


Little by Little - The Comeback

by PyroQueenOfFire



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, I only rated it M because of language and violence and some gross monster stuff, It is also AU because we set the pilot farther into the future?, It's our own little mesh a decade later hahaha, Less childhood friends angle, Like an alternate universe?, Sam is in grad school and Dean is 30 already, So everything moves at a faster pace, So it differs from my other fic with the four in it, This is a Bree and Kyla creation, We have been writing it together, and post sex scenes, but definitely eluding to sex, i will give a warning at the beginning of the chapter because it is intense, prolly not so much sex, the other story is more graphic there hahaha, there is a slightly triggering loss of a child later on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:47:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 35
Words: 275,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26309548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PyroQueenOfFire/pseuds/PyroQueenOfFire
Summary: One becomes three when Dean Winchester gets his brother from Stanford, and his girlfriend, Lily, is attached to him. Dean ends up making peace with it, caring for Lily like a sister, and then three becomes four when Lana shows up. Dean has hunted with her before, and they bicker to cover up having to talk about anything real. When Lana admits what she is, and life starts to cement itself around them, how will they deal with it?
Relationships: Dean Winchester/Original Female Character(s), Sam Winchester/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 14





	1. Nothing Like a Hunt

**Author's Note:**

> Bree and I co-wrote this, but she has no Ao3 account for me to link to. We own only our ideas and our original characters. Hope you enjoy!

**Sioux Falls, South Dakota**  
Lana Meckenzie was not the kind of woman that enjoyed just lazing around South Dakota watching her mother flirt with Bobby Singer. She wanted to be out on a hunt to get her mind off of dead friends and what it meant to really be half demon. Not just any half demon either, but the illegitimate child of the demon everyone wanted to kill because her mother hadn’t realized just who she was sleeping with. Oh, that Hunter mentality of a good time with no strings attached: that wasn’t how Lana preferred to do things.

Shaking her head at her mother as she sipped her beer, she had to laugh as her mother took a seat next to her and Bobby headed out to take a call. She couldn’t believe what she had just witnessed, but she had to admit that her mother was quite something else. Never once did she let her age determine what she was going to do with her life, and with the youngest of them at college, Lana was glad for her mother’s presence even though she knew it was short lived and she couldn’t ask her sister to ditch classes.

“I could have gone my whole life without seeing my _mother_ of all people, use the wink and touch a man’s bicep tactic. Spare me next time, I beg of you,” Lana told her mother, shaking her head when her mother waved it off. “I thought I was showing up because you guys found another hunt…”

Florence nodded slowly at her daughter. “You are, I promise. So, Toledo, Ohio. There was a pretty bloody death. Daughter finds her father on the floor, his eyes gone.”

“Definitely not normal,” Lana responded, turning the laptop around to look at it. “He left two daughters. That really sucks, actually. You aren’t taking this...why exactly?”

“Bobby and I are already looking into something else and you wanted the distraction, remember? It’s been weeks since Chelsea died and you’re still…” Florence started, but she trailed off and shook her head. She knew exactly why her daughter was in this head space and maybe she shouldn’t send her off on her own, but Lana wanted to figure out what this all meant for her future, and only she could do that for herself. “Take it or leave it. You can find your own hunt, I’m sure, but I thought you could use it.”

Lana nodded at her. “No, no--I could use it. I guess I’m headed to Toledo then. May I snake the keys so you can con Bobby into riding together? I swear, Mom, which of us is the teenager?”

Rolling her eyes at her daughter, she passed her the keys to the Mustang and then smiled when Lana kissed her cheek and bounded up. Yes, it was hard getting used to who she was, but she still seemed like that sweet kid she always was. The occasional odd thing happened when she was around, but she’d been able to control it for the most part since she was little and now knowing that this was a demonic thing? Lana tried not to use her powers at all even though sometimes there was nothing she could do about the thoughts that manifested into actions.

So, a hunt to keep her mind off of everything was exactly what Lana needed, and she hopped into the car and turned the engine over. Pulling out onto the road, she turned some music on, and started singing as she drove to Ohio, knowing she was in for a bit of a long drive, but she honestly didn’t mind at all.

**Somewhere in Ohio**  
The Impala cruised down an empty highway; pitch-black with only the yellowed headlights illuminating a short distance in front of them. The Impala remained the only car for miles and the sun was still hours from rising. The gentle hum of the engine sent Sam Winchester straight off to sleep once he had convinced his brother to turn down the rock music to an acceptable level. Once Dean resigned to stop teasing his brother, the music played alongside the engine’s dull roar and his hands gently beat against the steering wheel to the tune. 

“Can we get a hotel with a continental breakfast this time?” Lily asked from the back. She hadn’t looked up from her phone in over an hour. She finally tossed the device aside, unable to find anything else to do.

Dean glanced back at her in the mirror, “What’s wrong with the burritos we’ve been having?” He asked, half a smirk appearing on his lips as his eyes fell back to the road.

Lily made a face, “I’m pretty sure my stomach will be permanently scarred from that one in Detroit,” she placed a hand to her stomach as an unsaid apology. 

“Oooh, yeah,” Dean mumbled in agreement. He shook his head as if trying to rid himself of the memory, “Look, I’ll do my best but we’re probably rolling into town at like 4am, I can’t make any promises. You know we can’t—“

“ _We can’t go any place too corporate because they keep too good of records_. Yeah, yeah,” Lily sighed, resigning to glance out the window, barely able to make out the farmer’s field not six feet from the car. 

Suddenly, Sam awoke with a start. He jolted upright and nearly hit his head against the roof of the car. Both Lily and Dean jumped. The Impala swerved over into the oncoming lane for half a second before Dean managed to get it under control. 

“Jesus, Sammy!” Dean exclaimed. 

Lily immediately leaned forward and put her hand on Sam’s shoulder. 

Sam took a moment to gain his bearings: he was in the car. He was safe… He turned to face Lily and his eyes searched over her face as if committing her to memory. Lily had a feeling she knew what this dream was, “I’m fine,” she murmured quietly. Sam nodded once. He reached up and squeezed her hand, holding it for a moment to root himself back in reality. 

“Wasn’t clowns again, was it?” Dean let out a laugh, clearly missing the moment between the couple.

Although ill-timed, it broke the strange tension in the car and Sam’s shoulders relaxed, “Yeah, tons of ‘em,” Sam replied. He gave Lily one last knowing look before he looked around through the windows, “Where are we?” 

“Somewhere in Oh-hio,” Dean annunciated, “Should be in Toledo by 4 so long as _someone_ doesn’t need a bathroom.”

“ONE TIME!” Lily exclaimed, causing the boys to break into laughter and for the moment: Sam’s nightmare remained forgotten. 

**Three Hours Later**  
Dean was right, they rolled up to the motel at about 4am. The dingy, half-illuminated sign out front promised breakfast and Lily was content. Dean went into the office and Sam and Lily stepped out of the car to stretch their vastly different-lengthed legs. It was mostly quiet, just the sound of the interstate two blocks down with the soft buzz of early morning Midwestern traffic. 

Sam managed the bags out of the back and Lily looked face-down in her phone again, “Are we going to have to fake our way into a funeral again?” she was going over the obituary for the Shoemaker man for the 1000th time. 

“Maybe not, but probably a wake or memorial or something,” Sam explained. 

“Ugh,” Lily murmured. She always felt so dirty when their investigations took them into the intimate space of loss. She didn’t mind lying, fake-IDs, posing as a nurse or a realtor or whatever the hell got them the information they needed: but funerals? That was…different. Sam smiled, knowing her plight. He pulled her in and kissed the top of her head. Lily buried her face into the folds of his flannel shirt. 

Dean returned with a key, “Shoulda got you two your own room!” he laughed. 

The three shuffled into musty room #8.

“Di-"

“DIBS!-“ Lily yelled over Dean. Her slight frame gave her the advantage over the bulky Winchester. She vaulted over one of the beds to claim the bathroom. She shut the door and Dean shook his head, “Sonuvabitch!” He looked back to his brother for support, “Sammy!”

Sam laughed and put his suitcase on top of the caddy, “Don’t look at me, ’s not my fault you’re getting slow in your old age…” 

“I’m not old,” he muttered under his breath, “I’m spry. Like a freakin’ deer!” Dean threw his duffle lazily at the foot of his bed. He threw his trademark leather jacket onto the 80’s printed duvet and checked the clock, “I think we can manage a full 5 hours of sleep, Sammy, not bad, not bad at all.” he flopped down onto the bed with his shoes still on. 

“Yeah,” Sam replied cryptically; the younger brother did not feel much like returning to sleep, “Just make sure to set the alarm this time.” 

“Why bother when we’ve got you?” Dean smirked as Sam rid himself of his jacket. 

Sam wanted to argue but Dean was right.

**7:00AM**  
Sam, having not slept a wink, attempted to work the outdated coffee pot atop the even-more outdated fridge. The cluttering and clamor made Dean groan, “Ugh. …w-what time is it?”

“7:00AM, Dean, rise and shine.”

They weren’t the only ones getting up to get ready to head out to get things done either, as Lana had pulled into the parking lot of the motel and had to do a double take as she saw the black Impala with that hard to forget license plate. She apparently wasn’t the only hunter here, but it had taken her 15 hours to drive here counting breaks, and she hadn’t even had a run or a shower yet, which made her feel a little icky, but what could she do?

Grabbing her duffel out of the back seat, she went to secure her room with the man at the front desk and then headed into the motel and shook her head. The decor screamed ‘in need of a deep clean and some class’, but she didn’t care as long as the bathtub was clean. So after taking extra time to lock her door and toss her duffel onto the bed, she went into the bathroom and pulled the shower curtain aside to peer into the tub, and thankfully it wasn’t dingy and it didn’t look like the place you’d get murdered by Norman Bates.

After a shower, she desperately needed coffee, and checked her watch so she knew she had enough time to grab some and then head over to Steven Shoemaker's wake. That meant having to talk to his daughters, but she felt like she’d done enough research in the car to figure out how to talk to them. It was invasive, having to pretend to share in the grief of losing someone, and while it wasn’t her favorite part of the job, she’d resigned herself to it being a necessity so she didn’t have the time to dwell on it. She also figured that if Dean was here somewhere, he’d probably already seen the body, so she was going to have to ask him about what he’d seen and not bother with pretending to be anything or anyone to see the body.

Or flirting her way in: that worked sometimes.

Fluffing her hair a little and tugging on her red leather jacket, Lana found herself heading to the wake, tucking her cell phone into the back pocket of her jeans. She already had her story all made up and ready to go, and gave her cheeks a good pinch to help her look a little red in the face as she tried to muster up just enough feelings to get misty eyed about it all. Not that it wasn’t sad, because it definitely was, but there was a little tremor of excitement running through her at the prospect of a hunt.

\-----

Lily opted out of viewing a body in which the _eyeballs were liquified_. So she waited faithfully in the car until the boys returned. Dean loosened his tie and the car rocked as the large brothers got inside.

“So, what’s the story?” 

“Liquified,” Sam confirmed, “The coroner cannot explain it — they’ve left his death ‘undetermined’.”

“What sort of creature liquifies your eyeballs but leaves everything else?” Dean mused.

Sam shrugged. 

“Have we called Bobby?” Lily asked, leaning forward so she could poke her head between the two boys in front. 

“No.” “Not yet.” The boys responded. 

Lily rolled her eyes, “After we check out his family we should call Bobby… you know he probably has a better idea than we do.” 

“That’s not true…. all the time,” Dean replied as he brought the Impala to life and left the morgue. Sam navigated their way to the Shoemaker residence and found the place busy with mourners: good, they wouldn’t stick out. 

Lily stepped out from the car and smoothed out her dress. She waited for Sam who removed his tie and made himself look more casual so he wouldn’t stick out more than his height usually made him. He wrapped her small hand into his and they walked with Dean straight into the house: open front door.

“Why am I always the third wheel?” Dean muttered just before crossing the threshold. No one seemed to notice them. Lily glanced around at the faces, trying to pick out the daughters in the crowd, “There,” Lily pointed through the large window in the dining room. A group of young women gathered in the backyard, the older of the two playing host to the group of mourners offering their condolences.

“Bingo,” Dean muttered, heading first into the backyard. But then, he stopped dead which caused Sam to abruptly brush his shoulder and Lily to step right out of her shoe, “What the hell?” 

Dean’s eyes fixated on the group of women, narrowing in on one in particular. She wore a red leather jacket that made her stand out from the crowd. 

“Dean, now is not the time,” Sam began but Dean threw up his hand to hush his brother, “I know her,” he muttered towards his brother, “You know that hunter, that friend of Bobby’s I told you about? Lana?” 

Sam’s eyes lit up with recognition, “Oh shit, yeah.” 

Dean straightened his coat and threw back his shoulders. 

“What do we do?” Lily asked. Did they pretend not to know her? Would it blow their cover? If another hunter was here, they were on to something. 

The group trepidatiously approached the group of small women. Lily spoke first, “You must be Donna,” she smiled. Women were always more disarming than large men. 

Donna squinted her eyes, trying to figure out how she knew this woman only a little older than herself, “Yeah, and you are?”

“Lucy,” Lily replied solemnly, “I uh-am-was Mr. Shoemaker’s friend Roy’s daughter but you see my Dad’s been sick up in bed so he asked me to come down and tell you that he’s sorry.”

Donna nodded. In any other world she wouldn’t buy it but the amount of condolences she received today it was just another drop in the bucket, “Well-thank-you,” she smiled. She glanced at Dean who was staring at Lana.

Honestly, Lana hadn’t expected there to be more than Dean here, but it was clear they were a unit when she clocked onto them and how close they were standing together. Four hunters could be overkill, but her cover was just that Steven had done some trading for her mother and she was in town and saw the obituary and wanted to extend her condolences because he was a nice guy. Then come in Sam and Dean and this absolutely adorable girl next to them and she had to admit she was amused.

Lana let out a gentle laugh and pulled Dana’s attention back to her, “Your Dad was a popular guy.”

Dana shrugged, “Yeah, I had no idea.” 

Sam elbowed Dean who immediately shut his mouth, “Yeah, uh,” Sam cleared his throat, using every bit of his willpower not to throw a look to Lana and learn who this Hunter was, the one that Dean always took the time to bitch about, “Could you tell us what happened? I know it might be hard but Lucy’s Dad he…he’s been asking questions and it really riles him up,” Sam wrapped his arm firmly around Lily’s shoulders and Lily could have forgotten in this moment they were lying their asses off. 

Dana seemed uncomfortable but launched into the tale, amenable to his request.

Dean leaned towards Lana and under his breath he began, “What are you doing here?” 

Lana dabbed her eyes with a dry tissue and turned her head towards him so that her hair covered her, “Working a case. Judging by what you’re wearing you’re the…undertaker?” 

Dean hadn’t bothered to get un-dectective-ified after the morgue. He made “ha-ha very funny” face with as much sarcasm as his facial muscles could muster, “Well you don’t have to worry about it now, Sammy and I are on it.” 

“Oh? Are you?” Lana replied. She pulled herself out of Dean’s orbit and moved to one of the young girls seated nearby. She gave a disarming smile and placed her hand on the girls knee, “Hey, Lily,” she cooed, “You know, I thought about it and I know for sure that playing Bloody Mary could not have killed your Dad.” 

Lana made sure to emphasize _Bloody Mary_ for Dean to hear and his interest piqued so quickly that he nearly stepped on Lana to stand closer to them.

The little Lily sniffed, “How? They say she takes your eyes… and I said it. I said it in the mirror!” She was clearly distraught. 

Lana smiled so warm and comforting you would have thought she was Saint Lana, patron saint of scared children, “I know that seems scary but you see… she doesn’t come to America, didn’t you know? She haunts a small tiny village in Iceland and she can’t leave… she doesn’t have a boat, does she?”

“ _Iceland_?” Dean mumbled under his breath. Lana threw back her elbow that narrowly missed Dean’s groin. 

“Well…no…” little Lily sniffed.

Lana smiled, “And I know she can’t drive a plane…” 

Little Lily laughed a bit but was wavering in her conviction, “Are you sure?”

“I know for a fact.” Lana replied. Solemnly, little Lily nodded. 

“Good,” Lana patted her knee and stood back up to her full height, “I’m going to go get some water. You take care Lily.” 

Lily turned her head at the sound of her name, it sounded odd on the female hunter’s lips. But Lana was not talking to her and in this yard her name was not Lily, it was Lucy.

“I have to deal with the caterer, if you’ll excuse me,” Donna made her excuse and left Sam and Lily in favor of the house. Sam looked down to Lily and she could see the gears turning in his head. He was qualifying and quantifying, committing what he could to memory. It was times like these she remembered so clearly how he would have made an amazing lawyer, protecting the little guy.

There was a lot to look into, Lana heading straight for the kitchen to pull out an actual water glass, grabbing water and setting it on the counter to return to it. Moving up the stairs, she glanced around before slowly pushing the door open, wincing a little when she saw the blood still staining the tiled floor. Having your child come in and finding you dead with your eyes liquified? That had to be more than a little bit traumatizing.

“I said we got it,” Dean whispered in a hushed reprimand.

His voice startled Lana and she gave a little gasp as she turned around, reaching out automatically to hit him in the shoulder. “Seriously...don’t.”

“Red to a wake? Have you no respect for the dead?” Dean asked, rolling his eyes when she ignored him to look the mirror in the bathroom over. “You know, you’re supposed to wear black.”

“Not when you’re just passing through and last minute decide you should pay your respects to the dead,” Lana responded, pulling her phone out to take some pictures for evidence later before she turned to look at him. “Something is going on, though, because you-know-who does scratch your eyes out. I’ve never heard of it being a real thing, but honestly? Nothing surprises me anymore.”

Dean took a breath, glancing around the bathroom for any more clues other than blood and the mirror. “I suppose he _did_ die in front of the mirror. What makes this town so special though?”

“I’m not sure but it’s our job to find out,” Lana replied, giving him a grin and he knew in that moment that this dark haired firecracker in front of him was going absolutely nowhere.

He opened up his mouth to argue, but paused when they both heard the footsteps coming down the hall. Lana hoped to God it was just Sam or Lily, but when Donna’s friend, Charlie, showed instead, Lana felt her hand immediately move to lip into Dean’s back pocket of his jeans furthest from her. That made Dean tense a little, but that only sold the next part more.

“What are you doing up here?” Charlie asked them.

Lana gave her her best rehearsed awkward smile. “We were just trying to find a quiet place to...you know what? This isn’t the time or the place for this. We should go.”

“I saw the glass of water on the counter...and in this bathroom?” Charlie asked her. “There’s another bathroom downstairs. Plus, what’s with all the questions? Donna’s dad died of a stroke.”

“Wow, someone is attentive,” Lana said, taking a breath and then looking Charlie in the eye as Dean shot her a dirty look she could practically feel. “A stroke doesn’t usually make a person bleed out like this,” Lana explained, motioning to the stained tile. “What happened is horrible, but we’re not convinced it was a stroke.”

Charlie made a face and shook her head. “Then what was it?”

“Honestly? We don’t know, but we want to find out,” Dean admitted, taking a breath.

“Maybe finding out would give Lily at least some peace of mind,” Lana continued, pulling a piece of paper out of her jacket pocket. “How about this? I’m going to write my number down, and if you think of anything, or you need anything, you can call me. We’ll be around town for a little bit.”

How Lana had this way with young people, Dean never understood, but Charlie nodded when Lana wrote the number down and handed it to her, giving her a smile and a friendly squeeze of her shoulder. Then she and Dean moved past her out of the bathroom and back to the staircase, Lana beaming and giving Dean’s backside a little tap with her hand before she moved past him toward the kitchen to get her water to solidify her cover outside.

“Good luck getting rid of me now when she’s got my number to call. Who’s got this again?” she asked playfully, chuckling when Dean rolled his eyes again and headed out of the house to meet back up with Sam and Lily. “Oh come on! The four of us should really sit down and chat anyway.”

**At the Impala**  
Sam and Lily had long exited to the car when Dean had disappeared to check after Lana and do some investigating at the death scene.

Sam leaned against the hood of the car and rolled up his sleeves. Lily approached with one last glance back to the house, “That little one…little Lily. She’s going to be okay? Bloody Mary she, she won’t come back for kids, right?”

Sam pulled her into him, her back against his chest, his strong arms wrapped around her to hold her still, “Well, we have to call Bobby,” he said with the smallest smile, she was always right, “But as much as I’ve ever heard about her — she goes after the guilty and kids?...they’re always innocent, you know?”

“Yeah,” Lily breathed out. She closed her eyes for a moment and focused on the steady beat of his heart and in that second, for the smallest of moments, she was back in their apartment. Sam was reading a law textbook and she was avoiding her online work by making an absurdly large bowl of ice cream and forcing him to share it with her. 

“Sammy, Munchkin, look alive!” 

Dean’s voice pulled her out of her daydream and she found Dean approaching with the red jacketed Hunter. Dean cleared his throat and they came to a stop just before the pair, “Alright, this is Lana. You may have heard me mention her before…”

Sam chortled, “Uh, yeah. Uh— hey, Lana.”

Lana tilted her head to the side, “What he told you wasn’t good was it?” she asked knowingly. 

Sam shook his head once to confirm her question. Lily broke free and held her hand out, “Lily,” she announced proudly, already in awe of this smart, tall woman. 

Lana shook her head, “Oh, Lily -- _not_ Munchkin?” she looked to Dean, “What kind of introduction was that for a lady?”

Dean laughed under his breath, “Lady? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves I mean…don’t you have to be at least this tall…?” he held out his hand to a height just above Lily’s head. Lily swatted his hand and Lana knew she was in good company. 

“Alright, alright!” Dean waved his hands between the girls who were having a moment and he suddenly feared they were about to gang up on him, “We all need to have a little chat about…” he motioned back over his shoulder, “Lana is staying at the same motel so we’ll meet back there and rendezvous.” 

Lana shook her head, “Dean, despite what it seemed like in the bathroom I am not going to have sex with you,” She said as he used the word “rendezvous”. She was able to hide her smirk until she was at her car, unlocking the door with a manual key. 

Sam watched her go with a “not too bad” look across his face, “I can see why you don’t like her but I think I’m going to, Dean,” he told his brother.

“Just get in the car!” Dean exclaimed, ushering the pair into his Impala.

Lily and Sam exchanged a look before they got into the car, Dean making a derisive noise in his throat when Lana pulled out first and he had to then follow her instead of the other way around. Leave it to Dean to get into a competition with a woman, but this was different than most of the other times, even Sam could tell. Perhaps they hadn’t been together for a long period of time until recently, but his brother had tells.

“Did she reject you?” Sam asked him, chuckling at the face Dean made at him. “I’m just asking. She has you wound a little up.”

“Wound a _lot_ up,” Lily responded, smiling when Dean shot her a look too. “She also won this race that you two have going on, so how about you tell us what’s really up? If we’re going to hunt with her, we deserve to know.”

Dean sighed and shook his head. “She’s just…”

“Under your skin,” Sam finished for him.

“You know what, Sammy? Screw you,” Dean replied, parking in the parking lot and getting out of the car only to see Lana leaning against hers and smirking at him. “Don’t _you_ even start.”

Lana was going to start though. “I thought this car got up to like, 130 mph. Wasn’t that what you told me? V8 engine. 16 valve. 0-60 in 7.2 seconds?”

The first time they’d both arrived on a job, their entire peacocking act had consisted of measuring up their cars. While they had the same engine and the same valves, Dean was not wrong about his car having a higher top speed, but she’d dug that last fact in because her Mustang went 0-60 in 5.4 seconds, which she always had to remind him was faster by just enough to matter.

“Move your butt,” Dean responded, pointing toward the motel. “We’re in #8.”

“Can’t wait to see a double. How do you handle it though, Lily? He snores like a foghorn,” Lana pointed out.

Dean was grumbling as she practically stomped to the motel room, Lily laughing as Sam tried to piece that bit of information together. Were they closer than he had previously thought? Because that would be just great to have to deal with some kind of tension between them. She was already ordering him around and while he was complaining, he seemed to be following directions.

Everyone settled into the motel room, Lana taking her jacket off and sitting at the table by the window. As she looked at everyone, they settled too on their respective beds, and then it was Lily speaking up in the silence before Lana could even think to. That made Lana smile, however, because she already liked this girl. She seemed to be exactly the breath of fresh air that these boys needed.

“Do you think it’s really Mary you-know-who?” Lily asked her.

Lana nodded slowly. “I do, but I think we have to figure how that could even be happening. That bathroom was stained with blood, and he definitely died in front of the mirror.”

“It’s usually the person who says it though, isn’t it?” Sam asked, nodding when she did and then reaching for his laptop. “I mean this is a widespread thing and there’s so many different versions of who she really is. One legend says she was a witch, one says mutilated bride--it goes on and on.”

“First a foremost then, we have to find a woman that died bloody,” Dean agreed, taking a breath. “We need a woman named Mary, who died in front of a mirror.”

Lana nodded at the three of them. “And preferably one that had her eyes out somehow. That would be how she fits the ghost pattern.”

“Ooh,” Lily muttered. She sat cross legged on her and Sam’s bed with a laptop on her crossed legs, “Don’t google “Bloody - Mh-phm - girl - mirror”.... it is so not appropriate.” 

Lana smirked as her fingers hit the keys, “I sent Bobby a message, he might already have some backstory on her since she’s so, you know, famous.” 

Suddenly Dean let out a low, throaty laugh. Lana looked over the top of her screen to Dean at his laptop, “You Googled it, didn’t you?”

Dean’s face flushed with guilt and he hit a key rapid succession. 

Lana shook her head, “How old are you?” 

“Hush,” he grumbled, relenting to do some actual research. 

The room grew quiet. The clacking of keyboards and stifled coughs took them through the afternoon. Their research drew on well into the evening until finally, wiping his eyes, Dean closed his laptop, “I can’t look anymore. Anyone else starving?” He stood up and stretched. 

“YES!” Lily exclaimed causing Lana to jump. Sam laughed and threw her his charming side eye, “You’ll get used to that.” 

Lana nodded once and Dean threw his jacket on, “I’ll go get us something.”

“I’m coming!” Lana said, finding her own jacket. 

“You don’t need to—“ Dean started. 

“I’m driving,” Lana disappeared out the door.

Dean looked back to Sam and Lily, his mouth opening defensively. Lily pointed out the door, “Go with her before we die, Dean,” she said. Dean closed his mouth into a pout and disappeared. 

Lana unlocked her car and hesitantly Dean followed her into the passenger seat. He shifted uncomfortably.

Lana kicked the engine to life, “Now you’ll see what a real ride feels like.”

“Oh please.” Dean scoffed.

Lana opened up her mustang on the long stretch of quiet highway.

**Back in the Room**  
Lily closed her laptop, she would be useless until she got some food, “I was thinking,” she started. She slipped into Sam’s lap, causing him to drop his hands from his keyboard and wrap securely around her waist so that she sat firmly in his lap. 

“About what?” Sam asked with sincere interest. He welcomed this little break.

“I feel like we’re missing something; we need to find out who she was but we also should look for previous victims...what ties them together? How she chooses them... there had to have been something else left behind at the Shoemakers that Dean and Lana just didn’t see....”

Sam went quiet for a moment, “Yeah, You’re right... We should run it by those two when they get back.”

“If they both come back in one piece,” she shook her head, “If Dean’s chest puffs out any further I think he might spontaneously combust.”

Sam let out a genuine laugh that echoed off of the wood paneled walls, “You know, I’d like to see that...” he said. With a smile still etched across his face he used his fingers to gently turn her head towards him enough that he could plant a soft kiss upon her lips. 

“I’d like to see more of you,” she teased when their lips parted enough that she could speak. Sam’s arms wrapped around her tighter, “MMh?” His eye brows wagged up and down before his lips pressed more fiercely to her own.


	2. Mary Worthington

**At the Diner**  
Lana pulled into the parking lot and turned the engine off, looking over at Dean and giving a little laugh. “You had the tiniest bit of fun, admit it.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Sweetheart.” Dean responded, but he smirked as he got out of the car.

While he really did prefer to drive, Lana knew that every once in a while, Dean liked to be able to do the bare minimum of all the work. Taking a breath, she locked up the car and then headed into the diner, reaching for a menu and then glancing up just in time to see Dean hitting on the hostess. Rolling her eyes, she moved toward them, an arm wrapping around his shoulders, which made Dean stop right in his tracks.

“I’m sure the conversation is fascinating, _Darling_ , but I’m starving and you promised me food,” Lana announced, giving him a World Class pout that made the Hostess frown at him. “Which pie do you want?”

Dean turned to look at her as the Hostess greeted the people behind them, giving her a look when she gave a silent laugh and shook her head. “You’re an absolute pain in my ass.”

“Order food,” Lana responded, handing him the menu. “You know best what Lily and Sam would like, and I know what I want now.”

Nodding, Dean looked over the menu, both of them coming up with quite a large food order for the two of them, Lana mentioning that they were taking the food to-go because they had friends waiting on them. Sitting on stools at the bar top area of the sitting space, Lana caught the Hostess glancing over and rested her hand directly onto Dean’s thigh and he smirked and shook his head.

“Kind of possessive,” Dean teased, tilting his head to the side.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” she responded, leaning in a little so their faces were closer. “I just think five is a crowd and we came for food, not for that kind of pick-me-up.”

There was a glance at each other’s lips that caught them both off guard, but Lana was the first to pull back and then rest her hands on the counter top in front of them. Honestly, the last thing that she needed was to strike this up, but it was actually kind of fun. Hitting on Dean was easy and enjoyable, and she beamed when a server came out with two big bags of food for them to take back to the others. Taking the bags out to the car, they put them in the back seat, Lana pausing when Dean rested his arms on the top of the car from his passenger seat side. That made her do the same across the car and tilt her head to look at him.

“What?” she asked him.

Dean shrugged a little. “Just...why stay? I mean, Sam and Lily and I got this.”

“I have no doubt that the three of you are qualified, but Bobby and my mother wouldn’t have tossed me this way for no reason,” she told him, shrugging too. “I need this, and since you’re easy on the eyes and Lily is an absolute hoot and a half, I’m sticking around.”

“I knew you thought I was cute!” Dean exclaimed, quite proud of himself.

“I said you were easy on the eyes--like I can stomach looking at your face,” Lana responded as her cell phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket. “It’s ‘Unknown’,” she told him, answering it as they both sobered up. “Hello?”

The caller was Charlie, who was calling in hysterics about her friend being dead, and Lana motioned for Dean to get into the car. Any borderline flirtatious arguing was going to have to wait, both of them completely back with their heads in the game as they drove back to the motel. Taking the food bags in, they set them down on the table and then Lana smirked a little bit.

“Did we interrupt something?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows a little. “I can take Dean back out.”

Dean made a face. “No! Charlie called.”

“Wait, what?” Sam asked, a little more alert than before.

“Charlie called and said they found her friend, Jill, dead,” Lana ruffled her hair a little in thought and then reached for a fry. “I told her we’d come talk to her, but my stomach is also rumbling, so I’m going to shove some fries into my mouth and then we should go see her. Bobby hasn’t texted back either, so...I dunno what to say, but it’s definitely you-know-who, and I don’t mean Voldemort.”

“Oh no! Do we think it’s related?” Lily asked with a mouthful of French fries. Sam looked to Lana eagerly for her opinion: she was the one who took the call, after all.

“Hard to tell yet, but Charlie’s spooked...there’s _something_ going on,” Lana nodded, “I told Charlie we’d come to her, maybe she can take us to her friend’s place...” 

“Did she live alone?” Dean asked with a mouthful of burger. 

Lana scrunched her nose when she got a nice view of chewed beef, “Uh — I think so but Charlie will have to confirm.”

Sam nodded, “Well, we should get ready to go. The sooner we know what’s going on the sooner this town can sleep easy.” 

“Yeah cause you can’t sleep without your eyeballs,” Lily said, still deep into a large serving of fries and Sam wasn’t going anywhere until she moved.

“I think I should go first. Charlie trusted me enough to call... I’ll take the lead, you can follow up when I ease her in. No use overwhelming the girl — she sounded freaked.” 

“No way, uh-uh,” Dean spit a bit of burger but he didn’t seem to notice, “We go together. We don’t have time to tip-toe around this girl’s feelings.” 

“We don’t not have time — Charlie’s our only way into this world right now,” Lana said, “So buck-up, Dean-o. I’ll even let you drive.” 

Dean chewed for a moment and his silence said one thing: f i n e.

Once the foodies were satisfied, the four clamored into the Impala. Sam graciously offered Lana the passenger seat and folded himself into the backseat with Lily. Dean grumbled about “not touching his music.” 

The quartet met Charlie at her apartment. The four had an interesting time fitting into the girl’s living room but they managed. 

“Can you tell us exactly what happened to Jill?” Lana asked, addressing the girl with a soft tone and a kind face. 

Charlie sniffed, “Yeah uh, we were on the phone talking about the Shoemakers and school and stuff and then... she said it.”

“And by it you mean...bloody—?” Lana needed confirmation.

Charlie nodded, “Yeah,” she let out a shaky breath, “Now they’re saying it’s a homicide. Maybe a serial killer because her eyes...they were gone.”

The boys sat up a little straighter. Lily’s stomach churned. She gripped Sam’s hand — always an inward fear that the monster they were hunting would turn on him. It did not help that her ability caused her to feel Charlie’s emotions vividly which fueled her worries further.

“Now, Charlie, we need you to take us to Jill’s...do you think you can do that?” 

“Her mom— I —“ after a moment she nodded, “I think so... I’ll have to go in and sneak you in through her window.... she used to sneak me in that way all the time.” She sniffled. 

“Okay,” Lana smiled warmly, “We’re going to follow you there. Charlie — I promise you, we’re going to get to the bottom of this. That’s why we’re here.” 

Charlie led them out to the driveway and the four returned to the Impala. 

“I don’t like this,” Dean dropped into the driver’s seat. “The thing comes after soccer dads and cheerleaders? That’s no MO.” 

Lana nodded, “They must have a different connection beyond this town...they have to.”

“I think we need to look really hard at the room where Jill died; I just — I have a feeling,” Lily piped up from the backseat. 

“Yeah, and LIly’s feelings are pretty spot on,” Sam filled in Lana, albeit vaguely. 

“I’ll take it,” Lana replied since they had little to go on yet, “Fine toothed comb.”

“Aaaaand light’s off,” Dean mumbled as Charlie pulled up to a small house and parked causing Dean to cut his headlights. Dean kept a few block distance between them, “Which window do you think it is?”

“Probably the one with the ‘Teen Beat’ clippings pasted in the window.” Lana pointed. Suddenly, that very window illuminated and the window slipped open. Charlie waved them inside.

Once they all got in, they realized they had to be pretty quiet, just so they didn’t get any more attention drawn to them, and while Dean and Lana looked around the room, Lily and Sam were looking at the mirror in the adjoining bathroom of her room. Like before, there was stained bathroom tile, and because Lily was having feelings about the situation, Sam picked the mirror up off of the wall.

“Here,” Lana told them when he brought the mirror out. “Black light.”

Dean almost wanted to comment on why she had brought one in her pocket, but he didn’t want Lana to potentially school him in front of Charlie, so he kept his mouth shut. Instead, Lily ran the blacklight over the back of the mirror, to find a handprint and the name ‘Gary Bryman’ on the back.

“That ringing any bells, Charlie?” Dean asked her slowly.

Shaking her head, Charlie took a breath. “No. I don’t know who that is.”

Nodding and looking around for a little bit more, the four went out of the room the same way that they had come in and went to check records for anyone with that name. This also meant they were probably going to need to get back into the Shoemaker house too.

While Lana and Dean consoled Charlie outside, Lily and Sam were in the library researching. It was nice, actually, spending the time together even though they were working on a case.

"Found it," Lily said, frowning and shaking her head. "This is sad."

Printing off what they found, they went back out to the others and Sam spoke up. "Gary Bryan was a 9 year old boy. Killed in a hit and run by a black chevy Plymouth. No one ever saw the plates."

"Oh my God," Charlie told them, shaking her head solemnly. "Jill drove that car."

Lana took a deep breath. "Secretly killed someone, huh? We are definitely going to have to get back into Donna and Lily's house and look at the back of the mirror. But for the love of God, we bring those girls condolence food.”

There had always been something inside of her that was motherly--she joked she was the ‘Mom friend’, but she definitely was. That was what made it so hard for her to see these girls in pain, and she bought a little diner food before they all headed back to the house. Lana and Lily kept the girls distracted with food and talking about all kinds of things, while Sam and Dean checked the back of the mirror with Charlie and nodded at the words ‘Linda Shoemaker’.

Coming down to talk to them, Dean and Sam started asking Donna about her mother’s death, and she didn’t want to hear their theory about her father being behind it. Then she ordered them all out of her house and Charlie said she’d be careful and call when she needed. That was when Lana gave her a couple of numbers just in case, and they headed back to the motel. What they needed now, was to widen this search, and so they set to work trying to figure out just exactly who they were dealing with.

“Jackpot!” Dean exclaimed finally, Lana to him first. “Her eyes were cut out and she died bloody in front of a mirror. There is even someone in town we can talk to about it.”

Lana shook her head at him as he beamed at her. “Do you want me to tell you what a good boy you are and feed you a cookie? Because I’m not going to.”

“That little speech is good enough,” Dean chuckled, closing the laptop lid. “We should go.”

“I uh- I think I’m going to stay back here for this one…keep doing some research about other victims, see if that leads us anywhere,” Lily said, not rising from her laptop. 

Dean shrugged and gave her an “okay sure” nod as he found his jacket. Lana closed her laptop and pulled out a tube of lipstick, applying a thin coat of red in the grimy motel mirror.

“Really?” Dean asked quietly.

“75% chance the person we’re going to talk to in town about Mary Worthington is a man and,” Lana popped her lips, making sure no red strayed outside the line of her full lips, “This will help, trust me. I always get 25% more information than you boys,” she winked, leading the way out the door and to the car, Dean grumbling behind her. 

Sam paused for a moment and Lily could see his hesitation to leave her. She smiled, “Go! Nothing can happen to me here except perhaps starvation but even then I know where Dean hides the good stuff.”

Sam wavered but finally he nodded, “Yeah, okay. We’ll be back soon. Call us if you find anything.” he leaned forward and dropped a quick kiss to the top of her head. 

“SAMMY!” Dean called just before Sam heard the car engine roar to life. 

Lily smiled, “He’ll leave you,” she warned. It was true. He would. He had.

Sam laughed which released the tension in his shoulders. He was not good at leaving Lily alone. Ever since the demon attack at the Stanford apartment and learning that Yellow Eyes had a plan for her too… there were a lot of risks in their line of work and together as a couple they nearly tripled those risks. 

“Lock the door,” Sam threw back as he hustled out to the car, lest he be left behind and out of the loop on this investigation. 

Sam was relegated to the backseat, but he did not mind. 

“I’m surprised,” Dean muttered as he turned his head back around to reverse out of the parking lot.

“Surprised?” Lana questioned, not realizing Dean was talking about Sam. 

“Sammy usually doesn’t let Munchkinland stay behind,” Dean said, without adding the crucial “and for a good reason” part. 

Sam shrugged, trying to keep causal as to not freak Lana out, “I don’t like it when Dean strays off far by himself either. He either gets himself into trouble and I have to come bail his ass out or in three days we’re at some hick town Urgent Care because it burns to pee,” he couldn’t help but laugh, the number of times Dean experienced some form of minor STI’s in their line of work was too damn many.

“Oh.My.God!” Lana slapped Dean’s jean-clad knee, “Haven’t you ever heard of rubbers?!”

“Of course I have! They don’t…they don’t always protect the goods, you know?” Dean responded, throwing a glare back to Sam in his rearview mirror. 

“Am I even safe to be sitting in this car right now—“ Lana began to tease, “I mean who knows what’s been on these leather—“

“Don’t you talk about my car that way,” Dean warned lowly. “Throw all the insults you want at me, but leave my car out of this.”

Lana smiled, “Alright, alright…” she shook her head, knowing she felt the same way about her own car… and it was true: _it wasn’t the car’s fault_. 

**Back at the Motel**  
Lily did feel nervous being separated from the boys. But they always messed with her power — she was too in tune with them and it was hard to decipher her feelings when they were around. 

Lily closed her laptop and climbed onto the bathroom counter to sit cross-legged facing the mirror. She was not dumb enough to say the words; that was the last thing they needed before they knew how to kill Bloody Mary, but she wondered if she could connect even a little…. to learn more than what’s written in police reports and old journal articles. 

Lily took a deep breath and closed her eyes, placing one hand to the mirror, “Mary,” she said quietly to center her mind, “I am so sorry,” she breathed, the glass cool against her palm. She did not feel anything at first, just silence and what was likely a fleck of Dean’s toothpaste beneath her ring finger… but the longer she waited in the quiet, the more she began to _feel_. It was like a hum of energy and then swiftly, all at once a pain hit her so strong it knocked her back onto the floor. 

Lily cried out in surprise as she experienced what could only be described as the pain of a thick razor — a raging hot pain slashing across her neck and deep within the sockets of her eyes. 

From the outside, nothing appeared wrong at all. Lily let out another dry sob when she could catch her breath, winded from the intense, visceral experience. 

**In Town**  
Dean, Lana, and Sam were led into a quiet room. Lana glanced over a Dean when the man leading them had his back turned, “See?” she mouthed: it was a man.

Nothing quite made Lana feel better than being right, and not just right, but right when Dean wasn’t. Their competitive streak with each other was because of tension and feelings, but they were both too stubborn to admit that, especially in the middle of a hunt. If either of them was more likely to do it, it was Lana, but that would also mean talking about the last hunt they’d been on together and that was too... _personal_.

“Hey,” Lana spoke up, smiling that smile she’d perfected since Junior High. “We’re reporters, and we heard about that unsolved case of yours? Mary Worthington. I dragged these two along for the ride, but I’ve always been maybe just a little too into murder mysteries.”

The detective smiled at her. “One of those hard crime watching girls?”

Lana loved that she could get in here, her, Sam and Dean showing him some ID and then getting down to business so that they could better understand what had happened. Perhaps three was overkill, but Lana wanted to get the job done and get Sam back to Lily. It was obvious that he was worried about her, and she really did think that was sweet. Even in the midst of all of this, somehow Sam had found a way to have a relationship: he also had a way out when hunting got to be too much. Lana wasn’t sure she would ever actually have that, given what she was, but she wanted Sam to keep it.

“We know Mary was 19 and lived by herself. Won a few beauty contests and dreamt of getting out of Indiana so she could pursue acting,” Sam rambled off, looking at the man. “We also know that on the night of March 29th, someone broke into her apartment and murdered her: cut her eyes out with a knife.”

Dean cut in. “We know what the case says, but we want to know what _you_ think happened.”

The Detective took out some files he wasn’t supposed to have anymore, and started pointing out pieces of the picture to Lana and the boys, making them focus on the letters. The letters she tried to spell out in blood were ‘TRE’, which the Detective had always thought was a surgeon in town that she’d been having an affair with, named Trevor Sampson. Of course he couldn’t prove it, but the precision of the cutting out of Mary’s eyes? He was certain that was done by the hand of a trained doctor.

“Men have done worse to cover their tracks,” Lana put in, shaking her head slowly. “I’m sorry you could never prove it. Is Trevor still alive?”

“No,” the Detective shook his head. “If you ask me, Mary spent her last living moments trying to expose this guy's secret. But she never could, and we couldn’t help her do it.”

Lana nodded, looking over a few more pages while the boys asked about her burial, but she was cremated so they couldn’t just salt and burn the bones. Then Dean asked about the mirror, and that actually made sense to her, but she’d talk to the boys about it in the car on the way back to Lily. For now, they got information on Mary’s family so they could call about the mirror, and then they said their goodbyes and took their leave to the Impala.

“Taking pictures of people isn’t the only window to the soul,” Lana started as she got into the passenger seat and looked at the boys. “If Mary died a violent death in front of that mirror, then her spirit probably went into it.”

Sam nodded in agreement and pulled his phone out. “Which is why, we need to find it.”

Smiling at him, Lana realized in that moment that this was the exact thing that her life had been missing. Sure, hunting wasn’t supposed to be ‘fun’, but she missed it being a family and friends affair. Her mother preferred hunting in situations where she didn’t have to worry about her children, and Annie hated hunting...and Lana hated hunting all by herself. Yes she proved herself every time she did, but she liked the banter and the watching each other’s backs, and the feeling like a solid unit. _She wanted this_.

“Are you getting sentimental?” Dean teased as he got the car back out onto the road, but he sobered a little when she just shrugged and looked out the window while Sam was on the phone. “Hey...where’s the quip?”

Lana smiled a little and glanced at him. “You don’t need one right now.”

“The mirror is in Toledo,” Sam explained, shaking his head. “That’s how she is getting from mirror to mirror. We just have to get into the Antique Shop and figure out the next step.”

“The next step is summoning her,” Lana explained, taking a breath. “And her MO seems to be taking out people who have secrets that get people killed, much like the way she was brutally butchered to hide an affair because some narcissistic asshole was afraid of getting his ass kicked by his wife.”

Dean whistled at that. “Wow...tell us how you really feel.”

“I can summon her,” Lana continued, looking between the boys when they shot her looks. “I have a secret or two about that hunt that Chelsea died on, so I’m as good a bait as any.”

“No, that’s idiotic. Even _I_ can’t let you do that,” Dean responded, making a noise of protest when Lana answered her phone and sat up straighter.

“Charlie, Charlie slow down. Donna said it and now you see her?” Lana asked her, closing her eyes and then nodding. “We’ll be to you as soon as we can. Don’t look at anything you can see a reflection in.” Hanging up, she turned to Sam. “Call Lily. We might need to split up.”

Dean shook his head. “Not if that looks like you summoning Mary in her damn mirror.”

“You worried?” she asked, smiling genuinely when he didn’t deny it. “I’m a big girl, Dean. I can handle an angry spirit. Besides, it’ll be like therapy.”

Dean chortled, “What kind of fucked up therapist have you been to?” he asked, using humor to deflect his fear. Salt ‘em and burn ‘em was tried and true — the only mess you seemed to get yourself was a decaying corpse or rotted flowers at a gravesite but… _summoning_ Bloody Mary to her mirror? What could go wrong? 

“I don’t think we should split up,” Sam said, his inner gears working to try and solve this complicated equation, “We should swing by and get Lily and then get to Charlie’s. We’ll just have to remove anything reflective, keep her in one place and then… we have to kill the spirit of Mary Worthington.” 

Dean and Lana cringed: well when you said it like _that_.

“Alright then, at least we’ve got a plan,” Dean pressed his foot harder to the accelerator. 

Gravel crunched violently beneath the tires as he skid into the motel parking lot, “Get her quick, Sammy, no funny stuff!” 

Sam rolled his eyes but dutifully exited the Impala. 

Dean’s head whipped immediately towards Lana once Sam was at the motel door, “Don’t think I’m going to let you summon that bitch to her mirror.”

Lana shook her head, “I don’t remember you getting a choice. Look, I know for sure she’ll come when I call her and that leaves you and Sam to smoke her when she shows up. Those are my kind of odds,” Lana stroked his ego.

Dean was tense but he said nothing more on the topic. The sun was going down and it felt like the wick on their candle was burning low. He honked the horn, “They better be getting their asses in gear,” he grumbled, on edge.


	3. Lana's Got Secrets

**Inside the Motel Room**  
Sam had entered the motel room to find every light on. Lily was seated on their bed, cross legged, with a blanket around her shoulders and a cup of instant coffee in her hands. She looked up at his entrance and he was taken aback by the violently dark circles under her eyes and flushed complexion, “Lily, what happened?” he asked. He knew he shouldn’t have left her and now he was paying the price.

“This coffee tastes like feet,” She replied, motioning to the mug cupped in both hands. He didn’t buy it. She jumped when the horn honked and slipped from beneath the blanket tented over her shoulders. She set the coffee aside and faced Sam, “I promise I’ll tell you later. I’m fine, okay? But you guys solved the mystery and now we’re off to kick some ghost butt?”

Sam almost stumbled over his words between wanting to fight her into tell him what happened and at the same time inform her of Charlie’s immediate dilemma and where they were all headed, “Yeah,” he managed difficultly, “We should go, Charlie’s in trouble.” he took a deep breath and looked her over one last time. He did not tell her he saw a perfect print of her hand on the dirty motel mirror behind her, that was for later. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and lead her out to the Impala where they both managed to climb into the backseat. The door barely shut behind them before Dean was peeling out and down the desolate Midwestern highway. 

Lana glanced back at Lily. Something was wrong, but she knew Dean hadn’t noticed and it would complicate things if she brought it up. She could check in later in a way that was private to her and Lily — not to involve the boys. 

At their speed, it didn’t take long for them to grind to a halt in front of Charlie’s apartment building, “We gotta make this quick — can’t lead any other chumps say that name,” Dean pushed out of the car. 

Lana felt sorry for the girl. When they reached her, she was curled up onto her bed with her head in her knees. Lana instantly took a seat next to her and the boys began covering or removing reflective surfaces in her room so Lana could talk to her, “You’ve seen her, haven’t you?”

Charlie nodded with a tear-stained face. 

Lily felt another punch of Charlie’s fear and guilt, “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, knowing there was only one way someone could see Bloody Mary. Charlie swallowed hard and Lana did not think she would be brave enough but a strange way of relief washed over her and she was grateful to be asked, “Yeah,” she replied as Lily took a seat on her other side, “It was my… my ex-boyfriend,” she started, “I loved him but he also scared me, you know? Things had gotten — well, I wanted to break it off. He kept saying that he would kill himself if I left,” she admitted with great difficulty, “But I know that’s just a thing people say, right? I had to go… so… I left and…” 

Lana nodded, “Look, Charlie,” she stared, “I know that this whole crazy thing might make you think you’re guilty — spirits have,” she took a moment to find her words, “—they have a hard time seeing shades of grey. They are black and white… but that does not make you guilty of anything, okay? If you felt the best thing for you was to leave the situation, that’s exactly what you should have done. I know...I know it doesn’t change the guilt you feel, but I promise you, that what you did does not mean you deserve any of what is happening to you right now.”

She wished that she believed the words that she was telling Charlie right now, and she did, just not for herself even if it was good advice. Too much happened out in this world, and when you knew about it and deliberately kept people in the dark, it did more harm than it did good, and Lana wrapped her arms around Charlie, giving her the motherly affection that seeped out of her. She ran her hand up and down Charlie’s back as she cried a little, humming to try and calm her down before she pulled back and looked Charlie in the eyes, giving her a comforting smile as she tucked hair behind her ears.

“We’re going to put a stop to this, okay? I need you to not look into anything until we come back and tell you it’s over,” Lana explained, nodding when Charlie nodded. “If you need _anything_ , we’re going to be just in town and we will come straight for you. Do not hesitate.”

When she nodded again, Lana stood up off of the bed and headed for the door, surprised when the hand that caught hers in the hallway was none other than Dean’s. He had a look in his eye that she honestly couldn’t place and instead of saying something cheeky, she just gave his hand a squeeze and took a step toward him. Leave it to Dean Winchester to get soft at the worst possible moment.

“I still hate this plan,” Dean told her, shaking his head.

She nodded, shrugging her shoulders. “But I’m not going to let Charlie die. What she did to get out of an emotionally abusive situation was not something she should get murdered over. Mary has her thinking she’s guilty to her foundations, and I can’t let this happen. I just can’t. Besides...you’ve got my back.”

Dean hated this plan more than he could explain, but even Sam agreed that with all the mirrors that Mary could hide in, she had to be summoned to where it began. The four hunters weren’t even sure that this was going to work out, but they had to have faith in _something_. So, they got to the antique store and then Lana turned to them, aware she was being kind of bossy, but she needed this to go smoothly.

“If anyone sees the mirror, call out. Not entirely sure how it works, but I need you guys to let me summon her on my own. I don’t want it to potentially backfire and hit one of you. I don’t know who has secrets about what, but if you really want me to tell you all about things when it’s over, I’ll tell you everything,” Lana promised before she went off in search of the mirror.

Lily was curious, her feelings about people and things were never wrong, but she would keep it to herself until Mary was done for. She stayed close to Sam as they went looking for the mirrors, her finding it and calling out for Lana, who came straight for her and Sam and nodded. The look on Lily’s face alone made Lana want to ask questions about what was going on with her, but she knew now wasn’t the time: they were on a time crunch to save Charlie.

“Okay, I need her to come for me, so if you two could go in the other room?” Lana asked, seeing the reluctant looks on their faces, but they did what she asked, Dean now preoccupied with the cop outside because they’d tripped the alarm, and that only meant this had to go faster. Taking a deep breath when it was just her and the mirror, Lana looked right at her reflection. “Bloody Mary...bloody Mary...bloody Mary.”

It felt like forever before she saw her reflection smirk at her, and knowing she wasn’t the one smirking, she was suddenly very alert when the blood trickled down in single streaks, one from each eye. Then, Lana felt the blood trickle from her eyes, a searing pain behind them that forced her to her knees.

“You’re the reason Chelsea died,” her reflection told her, shaking her head. “She didn’t know what you were. No one did. You say you let her be bait and that’s why you feel guilty but it’s so much more than that. Isn’t it?!”

Mary seemed incredibly angry with her, and Lana couldn’t blame her, a pain in her stomach churning around on top of the pain behind her eyes. A soft strangled sob came out of her as she remembered finding Chelsea in that alleyway, broken and bloody. All because a demon had been sent specifically for Lana and Lana alone, and Chelsea was a message. Chelsea had never had to die, but it was Lana letting her run off after a demon even when she had her suspicions, which ended in such a bloody death. A death that Lana wished she could have prevented because Chelsea was her friend. Could she have real friends though? If she told anyone about what she was, they’d put a bullet between her eyes...but she didn’t deserve to live more than her friends either.

Lifting her hand to try and break the mirror, Lana felt more pain sear through her and let out a much louder sound that she was sure would alert Sam and Lily if they hadn’t been alerted already by Mary’s talking. The last thing that she wanted was for them to find out this way about who she was, but this spirit was not in fact a demon, so she couldn’t control it the way she had been practicing the last few months. She just needed to break the damn mirror, and broke a couple closer to her in frustration at the pain.

“You let her die for you,” Mary continued, more blood leaking out of Lana’s eyes as she held her hand up to make the mirror crack, which only pissed Mary off further. “You’re letting everyone die for you. You’re a _monster_.”

There was more that she probably wanted to say, but Lily had thrown a nearby vase at the mirror, shattering it. For good measure, Sam shattered the other mirrors around them, and Dean came into the room. He was to Lana the moment he saw her on the ground with blood coming out of her eyes, Lily curious as to how Lana had cracked the mirror by just holding her hand up like that. Was she a monster? Lily would never think that about her, having met her, but she could do things...and Lily wanted answers.

“Come on,” Dean told Lana as he cradled her face in his hands and looked her over. “We gotta get out of here before the cops get up.”

Lana nodded, but as she got up, a noise made all four hunters turn to look at Mary’s mirror, seeing what looked very much like the girl from the Grudge coming out of it. Swearing, Lana felt that searing pain again, but all four of them felt it, blood leaking out of all of their eyes as Mary closed in on them.

Lily felt for the second time today the power of Bloody Mary. Why didn’t smashing the mirror work? Lana coaxed her forward and baited her with trauma and yet it was all crumbling down around them.

Four capable Hunters were on the ground writhing in pain, while their faces were streaked with their own blood. Lily could hardly make out the murdered girl with her hair hanging in her face. Charlie must’ve been horrified to see that in her reflection. Doing her best to keep her head up and eyes open, Lily managed to make eye contact with Mary who jolted back a step. Lily cried out as another wave of pain hit her but something told her: she had projected a piece of Mary’s pain back onto her. 

Suddenly, Sam wrapped his strong hand around her arm and pulled her over to him. He had been watching and somewhere in his suffering the answer hit him, “Reflection!” he exclaimed to his cohorts. He managed to haul a small near-by mirror in front of him to shield himself and Lily. Lana managed to throw herself behind another mirror not-yet smashed. 

Mary began talking to herself, but her demonic voice melted into shrieks before the young woman back from the dead was dead again. It was as if her dust that filled the air cured their pain. Everyone was able to right themselves and wipe the blood from their faces; the searing pain was gone. 

“Okay, what just happened?” Lana asked, still feeling a residual sting in her eyes. 

Sam took a deep breath and looked around at the mess they made, “She couldn’t face herself,” he shrugged. 

“How the hell did you figure that out?” Dean asked, particularly concerned about a spot of blood on the lapel of his jacket. Sam glanced at Lily but couldn’t say much because he did not know what Lana knew or _should_ know, “Just, had a feeling,” he finally answered. 

“Alright, well, Ghost Therapist, we should get the hell out of here before the cops figure out what I fed them was a load of bullshit,” he said. Dean looked to Lana who was pale faced and blood-stained. She found his eyes concerned but he said nothing at all. 

The four climbed into the Impala just before sunrise. Lana pulled out her phone and dialed, “Charlie? Charlie it’s Lana. You’re safe now. She’s gone…for good. Okay?” she coaxed to the other woman on the line. 

Lily watched Lana’s profile as she spoke, marveling at the woman’s ability to simultaneously be “one of the boys” and a strong maternal figure. Lily also noted she did not spend enough time around women. 

The Impala’s drive back to the motel seemed long and arduous but just as the sun peaked over the roof of the motel, the four managed back into the Winchester room and collapsed into the nearest seat. 

Dean shrugged off his jacket, Sam managed to kick off just one shoe but he could not remove his jacket because Lily had pressed herself into his chest and hidden inside of it. Lana had her seat by the window and found peace in the growing light, “Kind of sad, don’t you think?” 

Dean glanced over with a furrowed brow. They had just solved a case and sent another creature to hell, what was sad about that? 

Lana continued without need for his response, “A promising young girl gets murdered by an entitled asshole, and as she uses her last strength to spell out the name of her killer her soul gets trapped in the mirror and she becomes some… horrible monster?” Lana could not help but think about the demon inside of her. If an innocent human girl could end up with such a fate, was there hope for her?

Lily extracted her head from Sam’s chest and looked over his broad body to Lana at the window, “Yeah, but she was in a lot of pain I mean…” Lily shuddered. Sam gripped her thigh tightly. “I like to think that we finally gave her the peace she deserved. I mean, I’d probably become a monster too if no one was listening to me either,” she shrugged. She looked to Dean, “So just keep that in mind the next time you don’t want to listen to my ideas,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.

A little smiled appeared on Lana’s face when Lily said that, but her thoughts drifted back to Mary and to how she really did hope that this gave her peace. She also hoped it didn’t mean her situation was hopeless, because she’d spent so much time telling herself that it wasn’t.

Dean gave Lily a breathy “ha-ha” but his attentions were on Lana, “So,” he pushed himself to their mini-fridge and pulled out two cold ones. He walked to Lana and handed her the second, taking the seat in front of her, “You want to tell us about Chelsea now? You know, don’t need you turning into some crazy monster on us because of all your secrets,” he tried cracking a joke because his defense mechanism was on overdrive. Dean Winchester was not vulnerable. _Especially_ not in front of someone like Lana. 

Lana stared at the beer for a second before she took a breath, resting both hands on the bottle as she leaned forward in the chair. At least this gave her something to do with her hands, and she tried to figure out just where it was that she should start. After all, there wasn’t really any place she could start that didn’t at some point have to be backtracked to make things make more sense. Hell, she was still getting used to this.

“Dean has known for a little bit that I’m... _different_ ,” she started, which made Dean make a face, more out of not wanting to be caught in hidden truths, but also the wheels were turning in his head as to how that could have any relevance to the here and now. “I knew when I was a kid that I could do things. Things that weren’t normal. It used to drive me nuts because my sister couldn’t do anything, but when I’d get really mad, or I wanted something bad enough, things happened. Cracked glass, forcing monsters back, healing a little faster than most--that’s part of why I thought I had this handled, because in a dire situation I thought I could shatter the mirror.”

Sam nodded slowly, swallowing before he spoke. “It really started that young?”

“Yeah,” Lana admitted, feeling her eyes get a little misty, but she refused to cry here. “I’ve been trying to cope with it for a long time, but it wasn’t until recently that I really understood. I haven’t known how to tell people because my mother raised me into this hunting life, but most hunters are like Mary: they don’t see in shades of gray.”

“Most of them are driven by fear,” Lily pointed out, nodding when Lana did. “What Mary said about you though. You can’t believe her.”

Lana smiled a little and then shrugged. “It’s hard not to. I was an accident. I’m sure more of the population can say that than can say they were planned, but my mother thought she’d hit a dead end looking for the Yellow-Eyed Demon. He was the demon that united her and John on this mission of vengeance. What she thought, was ‘try to make yourself feel better sex’ with this cute guy she picked up in a bar, was actually ‘psych I’m the demon’ sex.”

When the words fell out of her mouth, she looked up to gauge the reactions of everyone in the room, not at all surprised to see alarm, as well as the wheels turning in their heads. What she had been leading up to had all but been confirmed without her even saying the actual words, and she felt a tear trickle out of her left eye that she quickly wiped away with the back of her hand.

“What are you saying?” Dean asked her softly, but there was firmness in his tone.

“My mother told me two weeks before Chelsea died, that when she held me for the first time in the hospital, my eyes flashed _yellow_. She said weird things happened while she was pregnant, but she hadn’t thought a lot of it because she was a hunter, you know? She saw weird things all the time, but she knew in that very moment that she had been so close to hunting him down, that he had thrown her off the scent,” Lana explained, shaking her head and setting her untouched beer on the nightstand closest to her. “I’ve been trying to wrap my head around all of this for a long time, and the demon that came after Chelsea, was looking for me. He knows I’m out there somewhere, but he can’t track me apparently. Something about the humanity mixed with the demon blood stops him from being able to sense me? I don’t know, I just…” A few more tears slipped and she wiped them away quickly too, leaning back in the chair.

To say the other hunters were floored was an understatement, because this seemingly normal and exceptionally motherly hunter across from them had a _demon father_. Not just any demon either, but the demon that had wrecked all of their lives in one way or another. Sounded like he’d wrecked her mother’s too, and to have this secret that she had to keep, had to have Lana on edge all the time. One slip, and someone who couldn’t see her for her choices and not what her blood defined her as, would shoot her point blank with no questions asked.

“So the Yellow-Eyed Demon...he’s your father?” Lily asked her, speaking up when she realized the boys weren’t going to right now.

Lana nodded and looked at her. “According to my Mom, yeah. She wasn’t lying when she said that he slaughtered her husband--my younger sister’s father--she just left out that it was because when he came into the house looking for her, he could smell me. Now I can’t help but feel responsible for every bad thing he does.”

“But you’re not your father,” Sam responded, surprised even by himself that he had said such a thing out loud. “Dean is one of the most black and white hunt people I’ve ever met, and in knowing you could do things, he still trusts you. We’ve just never...met someone who was half demon before.”

“Me neither,” Lana admitted, shaking her head. “Mom said it was probably because if it has ever happened before, they’re probably dead.”

Dean was quiet, not because he was mad, but because he was processing all of this new information just like the other two. They didn’t know what it meant for Lana to be half demon, and yeah, it meant she was dangerous, but this was the girl that seemed so innately good at hunting. The young woman that Dean bickered with and sometimes flirted with, and after the last hunt...well now he was annoyed. Annoyed because some of his walls came down and now this information? He wanted to trust her because he knew she had his back, but would it be too dangerous to Lily and Sam if they stayed a unit? Lily didn’t seem scared, exactly, but Dean also knew that Lily tried to see the best in people even when she shouldn’t.

“I’m sorry,” Lana said, her eyes on Dean as he avoided eye contact with her and took a swig of his beer. “I’m really sorry to drop this on you guys. I should just...I should go. Bobby probably wants me to check in anyway.”

“Does he know?” Dean asked suddenly, still avoiding eye contact.

Lana took a breath. “He’s been suspecting something for awhile now. He and my mother have been close since my stepdad was killed. He was the first person outside of the family that knew I could do things, and knew it wasn’t exactly natural.”

“Bobby trusts you,” Sam explained, nodding slowly. “Honestly, that’s good enough for me.”

Looking at his brother, Dean tried to keep his face as stoic as possible. “I need a breather,” Dean announced with a shake of his head as he stood up and reached for his jacket. “You three keep going, just…”

With that, he headed out of the motel room and Lana nodded sadly as she looked at her lap, rubbing her hands up and down her thighs in her agitation. She wasn’t sure where this left any of them, but she didn’t want this vulnerability to define her and she just forced a smile.

“Maybe I should give all of you a breather…” she said slowly, standing up too. “I’ve barely processed any of this, and I just threw all of this at you guys.”

“Wait!” Lily said without thinking. Dean had already slipped out the door. Lily was grateful Dean had never taken up smoking because she figured by now the man would be on an iron lung. He was probably just going to take a stressed walkabout. 

Lana paused and her head cocked to the side, still unable to gauge what this might mean to the other woman. Sam seemed welcoming but she had a feeling that was his nature. 

Lily glanced back at Sam. It wasn't for permission and yet it was some sort of nonverbal communication in which Sam gave her a single nod in return. Lily took Lana’s hand in her own. However, she was hit with a swell of vulnerability so strong that it nearly sent her toppling backward so she sheepishly let go, “Why don’t we get in your car, go hit up a bar somewhere close there’s… stuff you should know too.” 

Lana glanced between the pair, wondering if this was some sort of ruse but the pair of hunter/lovers in front of her were always astoundingly genuine, “Yeah?” she asked slowly. 

Lily nodded, “Yeah,” she said. She grabbed her jacket and kissed Sam quickly before urging Lana to get her keys. 

When they climbed into Lana’s Mustang Lily took a moment. She squished around in the passenger seat, touched the leather interior… Lana kicked the engine to life with a laugh, “What are you doing?”

“Honestly I haven’t been in a car that wasn’t the Impala in like…forever?” Lily tried hard not to think about the day she and Sam had to leave school, leaving everything behind because they had to essentially fall off the face of the Earth, “and since Dean’s soul is basically in every gear and gasket sometimes that’s overwhelming,” Lily smiled, “This has a much better energy.”

“I like to think so,” Lana smiled, for a moment her vulnerability eased as she took them out onto the interstate, “Do you think Dean will come back and try to stake me?” she asked, half-joking. 

Lily looked at her seriously, “First of all, we all know that’s not how you kill a demon, so nice try. But second, no. I mean he might be pissed for a while but he’s not…he’s not like that.” Lily said.

“How can you be so sure? I mean Sam said it himself — he’s really black and white. I mean, I can see that and I haven’t spent _that_ much time with him.” 

“I think we should get a beer and I’ll fill you in more,” Lily assured her. 

Lana shrugged lightly, “Alright, babe, let’s do this.” She opened up the engine of her Mustang and the girls made the highway their bitch until they came across a small bar two miles from the hotel. 

It was pretty quiet when they entered. They took seats at the far end of the bar where there seemed to be a modicum of privacy. 

“What’ll ya have?” the bartender asked, clearly shocked to see the two attractive women in his bar. Obviously, it didn’t happen too much.

“Beer,” Lana started but Lily’s words crashed into hers, “Cosmo. Double.” she asked enthusiastically. 

Lana raised a brow.

“What?” Lily started, “Dean literally won’t let me back into the car if I get anything this girly. So… I’m gonna live a little.” 

Lana gave a laugh, “Yeah, alright.” 

Once their drinks were served, Lana didn’t even wait until after a sip, “Spill, girlie,” she said, her lips near the mouth of her bottle, “What’s been going on with you?” 

Lily took a sip of her pink drink and Lana could tell she was searching for the right words. There was a moment’s pause between them before Lily managed, “I can feel things,” she started awkwardly. 

Lana narrowed her eyes, “ _Like_?” 

“Uhh, kinda like extreme empathy. I’m pretty good at controlling it but when things are really intense it still affects me.” Lily cradled her drink, unsure of how to put this whole story together for Lana so she could understand just how connected they all were. 

“So you’re like ‘special’?” Lana pressed.

“You could say that, uh,” Lily searched Lana’s eyes (and her energy, if we’re being honest) to make the final decision if Lana was trustworthy…and Lily couldn’t find an ounce of her that wasn’t, “Yeah, neither of my parents were but… I was visited when I was a baby…” Lily trailed off, wondering how much Lana know of her “Daddy’s” work, “by a demon with Yellow Eyes…” 

Lana nearly choked on her beer. She felt the fizz in her nose and she was forced to set her beer down, “Holy shit!” she uttered both because there was beer in her sinuses and the realization that she and Lily had a _crazy_ sort of connection, “So that’s why you have an ability?”

Lily nodded, “And Sam too. That’s why Dean can find shades of grey… even his own brother is supposed to be destined for something insanely evil but… you’ve met Sam… he could _never_ …” Lily said before she would reach _Born Under a Bad Sign_.

Nodding, Lana set her beer bottle down and looked at her. “Sam is everything he’s been described as. He’s determined, he knows what he wants, and he has more heart than just about anyone. And the way he looks at you? Girl, he’s got it bad.”

That at least made Lana smile for a moment, how Lily’s eyes lit up when Lana mentioned that Sam was head over heels for her. It was that kind of moment that Lana wanted to bask in, but she knew that she just couldn’t. They had all gone through an ordeal this hunt, and she wasn’t even sure what the state of them was going to be when she and Lily went back to the motel.

“I wish I’d ever had a boyfriend that looked at me half as happy as Sam looks at you,” Lana explained, shaking her head. “I’m glad you guys have something good in all this chaos.”

Lily smiled at her and nodded. “There’s more to life than hunting.”

“There is,” Lana admitted before she took another breath. “You know...my mother lied to me my entire life, but I’m not even mad about it. I get why she did it. When I could do stuff as a kid, she waved it off. Told me it was a witch thing when I was a bit older because, hunting I got. How do you tell your kid she’s demon spawn?” Her laugh was a little bitter, but she sighed. “I haven’t talked to Dean for a while. Since a few weeks before I heard John took off on him and I assume he went to get you. That hunt was kind of a hot mess and he got this look in his eyes. This fleeting moment of vulnerability that I only got to see again before the Antique Shop. That is enough of a reason for him to come back and tell me to go. Adding this to it? I doubt he’ll look me in the eye any time soon.”

“He hates letting people see him in a state where he can’t puff his chest out,” Lily admitted with a shrug. “He’ll come around, he just needs time to put his brave face on. All this abilities stuff gets to him, I think.”

**Back at the Motel**  
Dean had barely taken a walk when he had come back to face everyone and found that it was only Sam in the motel room. Maybe a part of him had expected Lana to be gone because he’d stormed out, but he had to admit that he hadn’t expected Lily to be gone with her. Then again, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t immediately notice the lack of a Mustang in the parking lot when he had come back.

“Done having a temper tantrum?” Sam asked him as he took his jacket off again.

Dean rolled his eyes. “I don’t think that me leaving constitutes a tantrum.”

“It kind of does,” Sam said, but he took a breath. “Honestly though, what are you going to do? She just dropped a bombshell and you’re what? After me and Lily, it seems like a no-brainer. Besides, it sounds like you knew she could do stuff…”

Sighing, Dean nodded. “I did. It just seemed par to the people in my life all being able to do things that I can’t do. I’m not even...I don’t think I’m mad,” he admitted, shaking his head. “I’m just floored. All that time back then, Florence and Dad hunting together? Florence and Bobby hunting together a lot nowadays. They had to have suspected something. What I saw when she saved my ass was...I mean now it makes sense.”

Nodding, Sam looked his brother over as Dean grabbed another beer out of the mini fridge and then his shoulders moved up and then down. It was clear he was still thinking about things, and while he hated getting real like this, Sam was the only one right now he felt the most comfortable being real with.

"Something bad happens and I know I won't let anything hurt you--or even Lily--if I can help it," Dean explained, taking a breath and then looking Sam in the eye. He was glad that for once, Sam was silent to let him work through his out loud thoughts, and he continued. "Even after hearing that her father is at the root of all of our problems? I wouldn't let anything bad happen to Lana either. I've seen her throw herself in front of dangerous things in the name of protecting innocents."

Sam smiled a little. "And from the sounds of it, to protect you."

With a roll of his eyes, Dean smiled a little and the two of them enjoyed the silent as they pondered what came next.

**At the Bar**  
Lana turned when she heard a microphone, cooking her head to the side. "Hey, Lily...we should sing a song…" It would get her out of this funk and honestly? She was enjoying the bonding.

Lily’s brows raised upwards, “A song?” she glanced back at the stage where a lone man was readying to sing his heart out. Lily was suddenly taken back to the beginning of her college days. Before grad school…before a demon turned up to kill her. Going on on Saturday nights, making sex eyes at Sam from across the bar… Lily sipped the last of her cocktail, “I’m in,” she said certainly before ordering another round for them. 

“Great!” Lana beamed, taking her beer to get the selection book. Lily and Lana giggled like teenagers as they looked through the book, trying to select their first song. Finally, they settled only on one only on an agreement that they would sing more than one. The few men in the bar were more than happy to give them the stage.

Their first performance was a still semi-sober rendition of KT Tunstall’s Black Horse and the Cherry Tree. However, by the time the girls were several drinks in (once Lily had convinced Lana to switch to liquor) — their song choices turned into ballads and their desire to remain on-key faltered. Despite their razzy-award winning performances, the men in the bar had begun buying their drinks so the girls would remain on stage. Finally, when Lily could barely remain standing and Lana could no longer read the prompter, they managed to call themselves a cab since neither one of them were going to be driving anywhere, even two miles. 

**Back at the Motel**  
Sam shifted in his seat at the table. His eyes remained on his laptop but they didn’t seem to be moving.

“Sammy I’m sure she’s fine,” Dean said. He had a beer cradled next to him on the bed as he read through a car magazine he’d found in the dresser drawers. He did not look up to his brother and his jaw remained terse: he still wasn’t sure about Lana and deep inside wondered if now that her secret was out if she would demon-Hulk out, steal Lily and derail their lives. Dean threw the magazine aside and sipped his beer, “They’re fine, okay!” he exclaimed but it was to myself.

Sam nodded, “Yeah, I know - I,” but both men stood promptly when they heard a car pull into the lot. It wasn’t Lana’s Mustang but in moments they heard giggling just outside their door. The brothers glanced at each other. 

“Whoop!” A high pitched voice sounded after a light thud. Then: nothing. 

They stepped together to the door and Sam opened it. Lily was seated on the ground just outside, Lana was next to her, and they were laughing like schoolchildren. 

“What the…?” Dean began. Lily’s unsteady hand held up a key, “It didn’t work,” she said. Lana laughed louder, “That’s mine!” she squealed, and by “mine” she meant ‘my car key’.

“Oh…” Lily dissolved into laughter again. 

“Alright then,” Sam let out a breath of relief. Drunk; he could handle drunken Lily. He leaned down and scooped his arms beneath Lily to carry her into the room. “I missed you,” Lily smiled, running her index finger down his nose. Sam couldn’t help but laugh, “I can see that,” he dropped her onto the bed. 

Dean looked down at Lana who seemed content to sit with her back against the wall. He hesitated. 

“I left my car at the bar…” Lana started. She giggled again, “That rhymed. I’m like Dr. Seuss,” she muttered. 

Dean rolled his eyes to the heavens: what had he gotten himself into? 

“C’mon Meckenzie, up and at’em,” he reached down and pulled her to her feet but she was shaky and fell into his chest. Like a gentleman, he helped her inside. He wasn’t thrilled with the thought of having her in their motel room tonight but he was still Dean Winchester: Protector and he couldn’t justify leaving a drunk, female hunter to her own devices because of his moral dilemma. Besides, Lily would probably follow her and if he had to deal with Sam’s incessant worry-sighing he would put the sawed off to his temple.

The door closed behind the pair and Dean seated her on the edge of his bed. Lana threw her body like a newborn foal to discover the car magazine he had tossed aside just moments ago, “I hear this is as good as Dickens,” she smirked, her eyes heavy-lidded.

Dean took the magazine from her hands as Sam laughed at her ability to land a solid joke while absolutely wasted, “Keep that up and you’ll sleep on the sidewalk,” he warned. It wasn’t true but...he wasn’t going to be mocked. 

“Ooo...grumpy….” Lana cooed. Lily, on the other hand, was trying to coax Sam into taking his shirt off. The Winchester Brothers became The Winchester Babysitting Club in an instant.

At least nothing truly bad had happened to the two while they were out, and while it was very clear that Lily wanted something, and Lana was eyeing Dean the whole time, the Winchester brothers were trying to be stern, yet loving. It was hard when you were being groped and goaded at each turn, however.

“What exactly happened?” Sam found himself asking.

“Singing all the songs,” Lily beamed, flopping back and letting her head hit the pillow when Sam pushed her hands away from the hem of his shirt for what felt like the hundredth time.

Lana nodded quickly. “Even though _some people_ ,” she started, staring at Dean as the emphasis was made, “can’t see it, we are very pretty. We were given drinks. A lot. A lot of drinks. I paid for nothing.”

“I would have paid to see you two drunkenly singing some Celine Dion,” Dean told them, keeping his eyes on Lana because he knew she was trying to get under his skin even drunk, and sadly, part of it was working.

“Should have heard…” Lily paused though, trying to think really hard about the title. “The bird. It’s free?”

“It is very free,” Lana agreed, nodding her head vigorously. “But you wouldn’t have paid with the right currency. So you’re vetoed.”

Dean had absolutely zero idea where she was going with that, but she was now kicking her shoes off while Lily seemed fascinated by her blouse. What were they even going to do with them? Better question: which of them would puke and pass out first?

“You sang Freebird?” Sam asked them, laughing when Lily snapped her fingers.

“The free bird!” she exclaimed, grinning at him. “So sexy. Isn’t he just so...smart?”

Lana readily agreed, and Dean shook his head, trying not to laugh because he didn’t want them to think he was amused by this. Mostly he was annoyed, but he had to admit that he had dealt with drunker, more annoying women. Usually he was just as drunk, not sober cleaning up the mess, but he had to be strong here since Sam smiled at Lily more than he should.

“Dean...my feet are cold,” Lana pouted, wiggling her toes a little.

Dean gave her a stern look. “Then put them under the covers.”

“I like when _you_ warm them up,” Lana responded, trying to bat her eyelashes at him, but it was not coy like she thought it was in this stuper.

“I can’t even unpack this right now,” Dean replied, shaking his head and reaching for a pillow, putting it over her feet. “There. Wait a minute and they’ll warm up.”

“You are very cute. Grumpy is good. I like grumpy,” she told him, the smirk actually working this time.

He had to remove himself from this conversation, and after a little while, both of the girls seemed to settle down and pass out. That left Dean without a bed unless he got in with Lana, and he didn’t want to be that guy, so he went to go and get Lana’s car, and then when he came back, he slept on the cot instead. That was good enough for now, and in the morning, the hangovers hit.


	4. Always Competing

“It’s too bright in here,” Lana whined, rolling out of the bed and making a sound that woke Dean up. “Who gave you permission to open the curtains, Samuel Winchester?”

Sam was caught off guard by her using his full name, but he smiled. “You’re not going to jog this morning?”

“Why would I put myself through that? My head is pounding,” Lana told him, shaking her head, jolting a little as she still lay on the ground when Dean poked his head over the cot to look at her. “Oh my God--please remove your face from my per..per...peripheral vision. There we go.”

“Oh, so I’m not cute anymore?” Dean asked her, smirking a little. “You know, I’m feeling some greasy bacon for breakfast.”

Lana made a face. “Ew. All of that is ‘ew’. What are you talking about?”

“Sam heard you too,” Dean said quickly.

Laughing, Sam shook his head. “I am not part of this conversation. Are you guys trying to wake Lily up right now? You need to let her sleep more of this off…”

“You said I was cute last night and you liked how I warmed up your feet,” Dean explained with a shrug, clearly loving this, but Lana couldn’t let _that_ happen.

“I knew you were a liar, but wow. Which of us is hungover?” she asked, tilting her head and staying on the floor. “I mean, looking at your face doesn’t make me wanna puke, but cute is stretching it. Also who is letting you touch my feet? Did you touch my feet last night?”

Dean rolled his eyes. “I didn’t touch your gross feet, but I brought your car back.”

It was in that moment that Lana actually felt a little bad that she was giving him a hard time when she was _lying on the floor_ , but she closed her eyes and nodded. He had done a really nice thing for her when he didn’t have to, and she was being a pain in the ass.

“If you keep being a genuine human being, I’m going to get used to it and then be extra annoyed when you’re an ass,” Lana told him, smiling a little when he looked at her and then purposefully looked away. “Thank you. I’d kiss you or something but like, the floor is where I live now.”

“I knew it! You dig me,” Dean wiggled his eyebrows, and then remembered that Sam was watching, and that he was supposed to be mad at her.

Lana saw the look on his face and rolled her eyes too. “Digging you a grave in a minute, yeah. Honestly though...thank you. You didn’t have to do that, especially not after...”

She was referring to the fact that she’d admitted what she was, and she knew that this banter was to stop him from looking at it seriously. Hitting on her, bickering with her, teasing her--all of that was easier than actually letting walls down to let her in. Sure, she was a little under his skin, but the fact of the matter was that she had to prove to him that she could be trusted. She had been closer to that before her confession, but this was Dean’s way of letting her know that he was going to let her at least try to earn his trust and she was grateful for it.

“My mother probably wants the car back soon,” Lana put in, laying her arms over her eyes.

Dean nodded as he watched her. “I mean...you did kind of ditch her at Bobby’s.”

“Lily and I kind of found a hunt too, not that far from there. I mean, it’s hazy though. I remember we were bonding, then we were drinking. I downed so many whiskey sours--those are the BOMB by the way--and then we were singing and dancing and guys just kept buying us drinks and we just wanted to sing,” Lana explained, squinting a little. “Honestly? What happened last night is hazy at best. I don’t even remember getting the cab, and I definitely don’t remember telling you that you were cute. Was it the grumpy face? Because when you have a little 5 o’clock shadow and you do the little scowl and your face scrunches up, I could see how 10 or so drinks in I might mistake you for someone else.”

“Wow, you aren’t going to let me have any of this,” Dean said, shaking his head. “Just for that, next time I’m not even putting a pillow on your feet to warm them up.”

The look they shared then was one of understanding, a little smile happening between them before Sam was laughing so loudly he woke Lily up. He hadn’t meant to, but he’d been holding it in the whole time he watched his brother, only partially able to see Lana on the floor. Honestly, something had to have happened to put them in the place to be this comfortable to dig at each other, and he wanted to know what. What hunts had they done together? What was it that made Dean know Lana would endanger herself for him even if maybe she might go evil on them? These were all things Sam wanted to know.

“I’m so sorry,” Sam told Lily quickly.

Lily’s eyes darted around the room: confusion. Head. Pounding. Her eyes had a hazy focus on Sam. Despite her inability to be a real person, she sensed that he was unabashedly happy and she had missed out and something, “Mmm-mph,” she responded. Sam shook his head with a small laugh. 

Lana had managed to push up to her elbows but had made no further move away from her new floor home, “What did she say?” Lana asked, wondering if she was that hungover. 

Dean gave a soft chuckle: at least the attention was off of him now and he could resume business as usually. His defensive wall went back up and he rubbed the back of his neck, “What do you think Sammy, was that ‘coffee’ or ‘breakfast’?” Dean asked.

“Coffee, definitely,” Sam responded, he took one half-stretch of his long-ass legs towards the coffee pot.

“WOAH!” Lana yelled, making Sam jump. Both boys looked at her: what now? 

Lana shook her head, “When a lady asks for coffee she is not asking for that…” Lana replied, closing her eyes again to try and wish away the hammer in her head. A moment passed before another outburst, “OH MY GOD. IS THAT WHAT YOU’VE BEEN FEEDING HER THIS WHOLE TIME?!” 

Lily whined and put the pillow over her head but managed a meek, “Yep!” 

Dean and Sam were flabbergasted, “Uh- yeah. Sorta all we got.” 

Lana pushed herself up into a sitting position but when the whole room began to spin she lost her ground and laid back down, “Uhm, no….it’s the 21st century. There is better coffee within a mile of here or I give you my car.” 

“How would Florence feel about that?” Dean asked with the smallest of laughs.

“She’ll never know because I’m right,” Lana shrugged. 

Dean and Sam shared a look. Sam shrugged, “We need breakfast anyway, these girls will never make it out of this room without food,” he said, coming back in with his smarts.

“Yeah, yeah alright. I could go for a big greasy pork sandwich right about now too…” he stood and both girls groaned, making gagging sounds. 

Sam shook his head but laughed along, “You’re an asshole, you know that?” 

Dean nodded, “Yeah, couldn’t resist.” He threw on his jacket, “Sammy, you watch the kids. I’ll be back,” he took his keys and was out a minute later.

The room was silent for a long while. Lana had nearly fallen asleep on the floor and Lily hadn’t moved from her bed cocoon. Sam, who didn’t mind the coffee, started brewing it for himself. 

“Sam,” Lily groaned. She finally pulled the pillow from her head, “When we…get to the next town…we need our own room,” she said slipping her legs over the edge of the bed until her bare feet hit the floor. 

“You know Dean doesn’t like that,” Sam started, although he wasn’t telling her ‘no’ just yet. Sometimes it was nice to have her all to himself without the watchful eye of Dean on them. 

Lily shuffled towards the bathroom, “Well he’ll like it better if it means him and Lana can bang,” she said before shutting the door. 

Sam glanced down at Lana who seemed serene for a moment. She wasn’t asleep, however. She was listening; bang Dean? No. She couldn't, that would be… 

_That would be_ … 

A moment later, the sound of terrible retching echoed off the dingy bathroom tiles. It was over as fast as it had started. The toilet flushed, the sink ran, then the bathroom door opened and Lily shuffled back out like nothing ever happened and laid back on their bed.

Sam opened his laptop again. Feeling good, he opened his school e-mail. It was filled with all the things he missed out on. The tests, the conferences, the graduation, the bar exam… and then… 

**The Impala**  
Dean returned to his beloved car with two big bags of food and a tray of coffees precariously balanced beneath his chin. He’d considered not getting coffee to prove Lana wrong but also knew Lily would become a gremlin and he wasn’t driving another thousand miles with her like that. 

He threw the goods into his passenger seat and climbed back into his car. He waited a moment before kicking the engine. He squeezed the wheel and took a deep breath, “She’s in your head, Dean…” he mumbled to himself, “Shake it off, shake it off…” he shook his head. When something in him began to stir he squeezed his eyes shut again and chanted, “The waitress from Tampa, the waitress from Tampa, the waitress from Tampa….” he poked one eye open and glanced down. He smirked: problem solved!

“Works every time,” he said before finally starting his car and returning as the hero with the food to room #8.

Lana had practically sat up the moment he opened the door, closing her eyes as she was once again lightheaded. Dean had coffee for everyone, and he loved it when everyone was giving him praise. Lily was over the moon to have decent stuff, and even Sam welcomed a cup, though he was a little surprised when he reached for the closest cup on the tray and Dean told him that one was Lana's.

That only made Lily smirk a bit.

Handing the cup to Lana, who had been confused too, she looked up at him. "Is this one mine because you poisoned it?"

"Do you really think I'd incur your mother's wrath by murdering you in front of witnesses that would rat me out?" Dean asked, rolling his eyes. "Just drink it."

"Fine, but we have stops to make, and quickly because Sam and Lily have things to take care of," Lana explained, sipping the coffee. Her eyes widened as it splashed over her tongue, and she felt a pitter patter in her heart that she needed to get rid of and quick. "You remembered my coffee order."

"I remember every order so no one gets crabby with me when we're working cases," he responded, shaking his head. "Sam gets half cafe vanilla lattes, for example. An Americano with cream and cane sugar is easy to remember in comparison."

He could say all he wanted about the situation, but for once, Lana wasn't teasing him or making a joke. She was looking at him with this look he couldn't think too long about, so he looked at Lily. He had to get back on track here and Lana wasn't helping.

"I got you some food too, Munchkin," Dean said, setting a bag on the bed with her. "All things that won't make you puke."

She smiled at him and nodded. "My stomach thanks you."

"We all thank you," Sam added, glad they weren't going to have to handle the girls puking all over. "Lana was right though...I need to get back to Stanford. First we need to drop the Mustang off, then the four of us should head over. An old friend of Lily’s and mine, needs help."

Dean heard that the _four_ of them were heading there and didn't know what to say. Seemed like Lana was officially just part of the team, and while he got that Lily could use the estrogen around, there was tension between him and Lana and he wasn't sure how to handle it. If she was around much more, they were going to inevitably hash things out and he didn't want to think about that just now.

"Lana offered her help on the matter, and we could use it," Lily explained as she opened up the bag. "Can't strand her mother at Bobby's though."

"I'll miss my baby, but I was the one that forced Mom to ride with me for the hunt. Least I can do is give her the car so she can take it home," Lana told him, smiling into her coffee. "You're lucky your car is just about as sexy as mine."

Sam laughed at that. "You two have some serious issues with your cars. How do you argue when you could bond over it?"

"This is the woman that made us listen to Bohemian Rhapsody on cassette _and_ the radio," Dean argued, looking at Lana who was still giving him eyes and he had to think about the waitress again.

"I like that song," Sam shrugged, which was both true and his way of letting Lana know that he would side with her when it came to Dean insisting on blasting his rock and metal.

At this point, it was hard to argue anymore, so instead, they all had to get ready to go. Yes, two of them were hungover, but they were managing now that they had food and coffee. Besides, Lana wanted to help, and eventually she made it up off of the floor and into the bathroom to change her clothes.

Eventually, they were ready to head to Bobby's, but as they checked out of the motel, Lana realized she wasn't sure she wanted Dean to say 'hi' when they got there. While Dean had told Sam and Lily about her, she had definitely had choice words to say to her mother about Dean that Bobby had overheard.

Unfortunately, not all of the words had been _bad_.

"Lily, you wanna ride with me one last time?" Lana asked, giving her a smile. "I mean, unless Sam wants to drive the Impala with his lady love to have much needed alone time, and Dean takes a chance on the Mustang one last time before she goes…”

Dean gave a laugh but Sam and Lily said nothing: this was Dean’s time to answer.

Under the pressure, Dean finally spoke, “Nah. My baby might get jealous,” he deflected. Hours and hours alone in a car with Lana was… too much. “Can’t go cheating on her.” 

Lily, cup of coffee still in hand, slipped past the boys to Lana’s side, “Your loss! Bet we beat you boys to South Dakota anyway,” she said, goading Dean into a little competition for turning Lana down. It was an unspoken rule in girl code. 

Sam started, “I don’t think that we need—“

“You're on!” Dean said, jingling his keys in his hand. Sam sighed. He was outnumbered. Lana whooped and put on her jacket, taking her duffle outside to the lot. 

Sam approached Lily and placed his hands on her shoulders, “Don’t let Lana drive too crazy, okay?” he asked. 

Lily smirked, “I won’t. We’ll just be listening to good music and talking about boys the whole way,” she soothed as she leaned up on the tips of her toes to kiss him. Their kiss broke apart when a very loud, “SAMMY!” sounded from the parking lot, followed by a honk, “Let’s go!” 

Dean was in competition mode. 

“LILY! Oh LiiIIllyyy!!” Lana called next. Two vintage engines roared to life. 

Sam and Lily looked at each other, “Maybe we…should just stay here? Ohio hasn’t been too bad…” Lily teased. Sam chuckled, “It’s tempting…” but when another long honk of the Impala’s horn filled the air, the two knew they had to get gone before someone called the cops for a noise complaint. 

“See you in South Dakota?” Lily squeezed Sam’s hand before she finally let go. Sam headed to his customary passenger side and paused, giving Lily a wink. He let her get in the car first to give the girls a head start. Lily laughed with a flicker of true joy and quickly slipped into Lana’s passenger seat and they were off! 

Sam climbed into the Impala but his door had barely shut before Dean peeled out of the parking lot, “I’ve seen grandmother’s move faster than you!” 

“So you spend a lot of time watching grandmas?” Sam teased.

Dean glared at his brother as they tailed Lana’s Mustang, “You know what I mean! Lana’s getting to you…”

Sam laughed, “Me?” then he laughed some more, “Dean, please. I haven’t seen you look at a girl like that since you were 12 and you liked that girl in Houston.” 

Dean did not respond. He had a race to win and _feelings_ to sort out. He shuddered: _feelings_. The only thing worse than feelings, was feelings for a girl that could probably break him and the fact that he even thought _that_ had him frazzled in a way he didn't like.

 **Lana’s Mustang**  
The girls were having a good time. Neither of them had friends. 

For Lily, Sam was her person and Dean was her brother. Lana had her family, she had Bobby (who was family) and she had a lot of crushing weight about her father’s side but other than that: nada. 

The girls scream sang along to Lana’s mix that she enacted by a cassette-to-AV adapter and an old iPod. Lily had tried to coax Dean into something similar but he was already too much of a grandpa at 30 to consider. 

“So Stanford huh? That’s a really good school,” Lana asked when the music finally took a break. Lana turned on some talk radio for comfort noise. 

Lily nodded, “Yeah. I wanted to go into social work. The times after both of my parents died, I don’t know what I would have done without people like that so… I wanted to give back,” she explained. Her eyes drifted over the horizon of corn field out her window, memories of the simpler times at school flooding back to her. 

“So how does a girl who wants to go into social work get with a lawyer?” Lana waggled her brows.

Lily laughed, “I don’t know if this is going to sound obvious but: Sam stuck out. He wasn’t like the other law students and, I mean, he also stood a good four inches above the tallest one,” she added as an afterthought. 

“I don’t have any trouble imagining that… but I’m sure all the girls at school were trying to bag him…” Lana pressed for the juicy details.

“Oh, yeah.” Lily nodded, “I don’t know… I mean, now we figure it’s our crazy supernatural connection but…” Lily bit her lip as she put her thoughts into words, “You can’t explain when something is just _right_.” 

“Yeah,” Lana nodded. Images of Dean floated around in her mind. God, who was she?! She was never a crazy man-chaser but Dean Winchester…he did something to her.

“So when I started grad school we moved in together and then of course that seemed to alert all of Hell that it was game on or something,” Lily rolled her eyes. She sipped her coffee again, reflecting at how crazy her entire life had been. 

“How did Dean even allow you to come along?” Lana asked, honestly wanting to figure out the guarded Winchester boy, “Doesn’t seem like a guy who wants to take extra risks.”

“Oh, yeah,” Lily agreed, “But he agreed on a short term basis because our apartment burned to the ground and it was clear that Yellow E— that… that we were being hunted. Then by the time that happened I don’t know… I think both Dean and I knew that… this was fate. As much as Dean will tell you that fate is a ‘crock’ and doesn’t exist. Even though he is basically a real-life ghostbuster.” 

Lana flinched at the mention of her Dad. She wasn’t naive: she knew what her bio Dad had put countless families through, including her own, “Yeah,” she responded, “And I feel like if Sam was ever going to go up against Dean, it’d be for you Lily,” she said sincerely.

Lily’s heart swelled. She wondered why Lana was able to be so sweet to her. Hunters were usually a hardened-type, “I’d do the same. He’s my family,” she said. With that, her hand reached over and clasped Lana’s. She wanted to make it clear that Sam wasn’t her only family now.

Squeezing her hand, Lana turned to give her a smile, and then she took a breath. "Honestly? It is nice. I have been hunting on my own since my sister was 18 and it is just...lonely. Not something that anyone ever expects a hunter to say, but it is. This is nice. We shouldn't say that about hunting of course, but that is where we are."

Hunters were supposed to be all grumpy and no attachments, but Lana had never felt like life did that to her. Somehow she had this optimism and maybe it was just because she had to have it or she would go insane. All she knew was she didn't want to be the monster that most people would accuse her of being if they knew what she was.

Not to mention, she wasn't a fan of her biological father to begin with. When Florence told her about how he had come when Annie was a baby, she made sure Lana knew that as a toddler, she had been terrified of her father. It was part of why even though Florence had taught her how to hunt, she had also taught her to see gray areas when they arose. Lana might have been half demon, but she was born an innocent, and raised with a moral compass, and Florence wanted her to know that that meant something.

To know that other people lived in shades of gray too.

"I think we make a good team," Lily smiled, nodding at her. "I think this is nice too."

Nodding, Lana turned up the radio and the two sang along for a long while. Sure it was a race with the boys, but Lana knew a shortcut and she wasn't worried. This was giving her much needed time to bond more with Lily and Lana was going to get everything she could out of it. At the same time, she wanted to prepare Lily for what might happen at Bobby’s, and turned the music down a little as they got close.

"I...I am not the kind of girl that throws herself at men, nor am I the type to obsess...but Bobby might have heard a rather heated one sided rant I gave my mother about Dean after we first hunted together. Also every rant about him since," Lana admitted, blushing a little. "Hunts together have been few and far between, but it is entirely possible that I have said nice things while also being angry. Things I never want Dean to know."

Lily laughed a little. "You mean you like him?"

"Ew," Lana responded, but they both knew it was a half hearted reaction at best. "I mean that I mean it when I say he is easy on the eyes. He's beautiful--he's just a pain in my ass. Also I remember asking him to warm my feet up while I was drunk and I just...what you said this morning. Did you mean it?"

"I said a few things this morning…" Lily pondered, but looking at Lana’s face, it clicked. "Oh! You mean about the separate motel rooms? Are...are you thinking about--"

"--banging Dean Winchester? No," she replied quickly, shaking her head and staring dead ahead at the road. "No...maybe...no. No, I'm not. I can bite the bullet and share a motel room with him so you and Sam can have a little space. Besides, if you guys want to see your friends, you should get to do it without us getting in the way. Plus...Stanford. I am sure I could flirt my way through a tour that led to Froyo."

Lily laughed, shaking her head a little. "Not bond with the Winchester you keep eyeing? He eyes you too, you know…"

"Oh my God! I called him 'pretty' one time," Lana blushed more, making a face.

"No, you said he was 'beautiful'..." Lily reminded her, smiling to herself when Lana huffed and turned the music up.

She might be the motherly person who was better at emotions, but she also closed off like Dean did. Why, Lily understood,, but she also wished it wasn't that way with them. Who had hurt them this way that they were so unable to communicate a simple attraction? Then again, this wasn't simple at all, and Lily joined Lana in more singing as they drove. Once they got to Bobby’s, Lana parked, looking around for the Impala, getting out and shutting her door as the boys pulled into the lot next to her.

"We win!" Lana called out.

"How?!? My car is faster!" Dean responded as he hopped out and shut his door loudly, moving toward the girls with a scowl on his face.

Lily smiled and came around the car. "Have you ever heard about the tortoise and the hare?"

"Your car might be faster, but clearly I have a better sense of direction," Lana responded, both her and Dean a little close to each other now. "Or you know, I took the earlier exit to cut through…"

The fact that she had outsmarted him made him throw a childish look in her direction, Lily and Sam laughing before they heard Bobby’s voice. He hadn’t missed their entrance onto his property, however, he was curious that he'd sent Lana on a hunt the boys and Lily were also on. Here they were together and no one seemed to be even a tiny bit dead.

"Well isn't this a sight for sore eyes?" Bobby announced, smirking when Lana turned first and moved toward him for a hug. "I see you made friends? Though I seem to remember the first time you mentioned Idjit over there," he motioned to Dean, "you said...what was it? That if his face wasn't so pr--"

Lana looked horrified at what he was going to say, covering his mouth with her hand rather quickly. So 'pretty' was muffled, but Sam and Lily at least were smart enough to figure it out on their own. Sam because it made sense, and Lily because Lana had said as much and more on the drive over.

"Wow. No time for crazy stories," Lana told Bobby, narrowing her eyes at him when he started laughing. Craning her neck a little, she decided to try a different tactic. "MOM!"

Bobby rolled his eyes playfully and pulled back. "I get it, I get it. I'll go tend to Flor. Keys?"

Lana handed them to him and then turned to the other three. "I say we just take off now. Unless you wanna rest for a snack, but Bobby is all out of stories."

"He has one more," Dean responded, taking off after Bobby to hear the rest of that last sentence with Lana right on his heels to try to stop him, leaving Sam and Lily to wonder how in the world they'd gotten lumped in with two of the most childish hunters in the world.

“I guess…we should go in?” Sam started, glancing down at Lily.

Lily watched the door that had swung closed behind Lana, “Probably. That’s probably best, right?” she asked, looking up to him. 

She and Sam shared a look for a long moment. Their next gig was going to be a new experience, to say the least. First official case for the four of them together. No extra rooms, no second car...

“After you,” Sam motioned with his hand towards the door in a “ladies first” type move. Lily took a deep breath, “Oh boy.” 

Finally, the two stepped into Bobby’s house. Immediately, the boisterous conversation echoed to the door and they were drawn in further. Dean, Lana, Bobby, and a second female’s voice that Lily could only guess was Lana’s mother all spoke over each other. 

“ _OH_ , well,” Florence announced at Sam and Lily’s entrance. She cradled a beer in her hand and was the only one in the room sitting down. Mildly concerned, Lana looked between her mother in confusion. 

“Ain’t you just beautiful? My, my,” Florence rose from her seat and approached Sam and Lily, “We’ve had our run-ins with Deano, of course but I should have known his brother would be just as handsome,” Florence put out her hand, “Florence Meckenzie. You can call me Flor.”

Sam chuckled, “Nice to meet you, Flor.”

“Oh my god, Mom…” Lana muttered, suddenly feeling like a high schooler again.

“What? You did not tell me your new friends were so good lookin’,” she said, her hand pressing against Lily’s cheek and running her thumb over her smooth skin, “He takin’ good care of you?” Florence looked between Lily and Sam.

Lily smirked, “Yes,” she said with a small nod. 

“Good,” Florence dropped her hand, “Now come on in, have a seat. Take a rest. Bobby here was just tellin’ us about the last time Lana and Dean decided to go hunting together…” Florence returned to her seat after running her hand across Bobby’s shoulders and giving it a gentle squeeze. 

Sam and Lily shuffled to the love seat and made themselves comfortable. 

“Now that everyone’s inside, Bobby, I think you were saying…?” Dean raised his bottle to his lips with a small smirk. 

Lana’s eyes glared daggers at Bobby who laughed, “I don’t know, boy. There’s a risk on my part to fill you in.” 

“C’mon Bobby, we fight monsters for a living. Didn’t you just get off some banshee case?” he asked.

“That wasn’t nothing,” Florence returned, “Sounds like you all have a lowball coming your way too. Lana said it's some friends of yours?”

“Stanford,” Lana wanted to assist in swaying the conversation away from anything she ever said about Dean Winchester.

“There’s actually a hope it’s not supernatural at all but I think I owe it to our friends to have a look.” Sam nodded, “Can’t be anything weirder than we’ve ever seen.” 

“That’s right, Sammy. Like that clown in Modesto or — oh, Lana thinking I’m pretty,” he smirked, throwing a teasing look to Lana like ‘ _I win_.’ 

“Yeah, don’t know which ones scarier…” Sam teased thinking of clowns or his brother being ‘pretty’.

“Clowns,” Lily and Lana returned instantaneously.

“Dean’s face is a close second, however,” Lana responded, giving him a childish look that he returned with full force, causing them both to stick their tongues out at each other.

Dean looked back at Bobby. “So since the general consensus is scarier things, you should totally finish your story. I’m sure we could learn a lot.”

“I think you’ve learned enough,” Bobby replied, shaking his head. “I think the scariest thing here is you two in the same room. I’m afraid of what will happen if you’re left alone again.”

“They’ll find out when we get back to Stanford,” Sam offered, catching Dean looking at him and then looking at Lana, who didn’t seem phased by the news.

The only reason that bothered Dean, was that he didn’t think he could argue in a room full of people, and because if Lana wasn’t phased then...she knew? She knew about this plan before he did and she wasn’t even protesting it? Not to mention, whether they admitted it out loud or not, there was a tension between him and Lana that was anything but animosity. It was something he didn’t want to have a chance to test out, because it was clear Lana would make him talk about it after and he was trying to _bury_ feelings, not _deal with them_.

“Oh is that right?” Bobby mused, nodding as he grinned a little. “One of you is going to end up dead.”

Florence laughed, shrugging her shoulders. “Or will they both end up laid?”

“ _ **MOM**_!” Lana exclaimed, turning red as she narrowed her eyes at her. “We are leaving now. I appreciate the hospitality, but it is time to go and get back onto the road.”

For once, Dean had nothing to say, and just gave a nod in agreement before the two of them hurried out of the room, leaving the other four there to laugh. Perhaps they shouldn’t have left at the same time, but it did give everyone a chance to exchange looks and shrug their shoulders. Whatever was going on with them was going to come to a head at some point, and their bickering and teasing was just their coping mechanism.

“I’m sorry you two have to deal with that,” Florence spoke up, shaking her head a little. “Lana has always kind of bottled things up until she exploded. When it comes to other people, she’s open as can be but when it comes to herself, she’d harder to crack. I promise you though, she is one of the most loving people I have ever met, and while I’m a biased mother, I have never seen her be cruel. Thank you, for letting her try.”

Lily smiled at Florence and nodded. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

 **Out by the Impala**  
Lana shoved her hands into her back pockets and took a deep breath, glancing at Dean. “My mother doesn’t really know when to knock it off.”

“Like mother, like daughter,” Dean responded, but he shrugged. “I like her. She’s very entirely not my Dad. How does that work? She was raised a hunter and yet she’s so...personable. She honestly wants to make connections, but what happens when everyone you care about gets killed because of you?”

“She got knocked up with a demon’s kid, Dean,” Lana reminded him, resting her hands on the top of the Impala on the passenger’s side as she looked over at him. “You might think I’m a pain in the ass, but I was a good kid. I was nice to animals, I protected and loved my sister even though sometimes I was a jerk big sister, and she raised me with a moral compass...but because of my blood, we can’t afford to see the world in black and white.”

Dean nodded, giving her a little smile. “If one person breaks the mold, then imagine how many other people do? I do get it. I’m still...I mean...it does unnerve me still. Not because it’s you, but because it is a thing that has happened. Has it happened before? What is the extent of what you can do? You know what I mean? And we can’t tell other hunters. They’d want to put a bullet between your eyes.”

“But you don’t, huh?” Lana asked teasingly, smirking at him. “Oh my God, are you being _nice_ to me?”

“Don’t get used to it,” Dean pointed at her, both of them sharing a laugh before it was silent again. Then a question came out of Dean’s mouth that he wasn’t expecting to hear himself ask. “What your Mom said...you don’t think we’d ever bang, do you?”

The question caught Lana off guard, but she felt saved from her answer when Sam and Lily came outside, and instead of answering Dean, she got in the car. Had she been entertaining the idea? Yes, she had. Would she tell that to Dean? Hell no. This was still the guy that hit on everything that breathed and she just couldn’t be in a relationship like that. Hunter or not, her last relationship had lasted three years and ended because the future he wanted wasn’t the future she thought she could have because she actually _enjoyed_ hunting most days.

Now, things like thinking about a family were flawed because did she want to do that? She had always seen herself as a mother someday, but at the same time, now that she knew she was half demon should she do that? Should she bring a child into the world knowingly who was a quarter demon? Actually, she wanted to say that she’d never do that, but if she met the right guy, she knew she’d have a kid in a heartbeat just so that she could prove that demon blood did _not_ define who she was, it just made her different.

“Did we interrupt something?” Lily asked suddenly as they neared the car, seeing that both Dean and Lana were blushing. “Because we’re sorry if we did.”

“Just Lana telling me I’m pretty again,” Dean deflected, tossing Lana a look.

She sighed a little bit. “I will gouge your eyes out with your keys, Dean Winchester.”

“But it would hurt my pretty face,” he responded, laughing when she took a step back from the car.

“Sam? You get shotgun, and I’m sitting with your girlfriend,” Lana said, shaking her head and then getting into the backseat.


	5. Weak Spots

**Somewhere in Indiana**  
It was not long into the journey until the car fell relatively silent. One of Dean’s cassettes played some lesser-known 80’s rock while Sam looked up motels in the town they were headed.

“Ow!” Lana mumbled as Lily elbowed her. Surprised, Lana asked, “What was that?” 

Sure, Lana had not known Lily for long but she figured the girl was more of a ‘lover’ than a ‘fighter’ as far as she could tell and _definitely_ not a ‘random-elbow-thrower’. 

Dean had glanced into his rearview mirror at Lana’s outburst and Lily quickly pulled up her phone and began to type.

“No catfighting you two,” Dean mumbled with a half-smirk, “At least wait until there’s some mud we can throw you in.”

“Dean,” Sam said with an exasperated sigh. Dean and Sam then launched into a minor petty bicker about how Sam would enjoy it too but Dean was being creepy, etc. etc.

Lana’s phone buzzed. It was from Lily: 

**Lily:** You have been staring at the back of Dean’s head for almost an hour.  
**Lana:** I have not!  
**Lily:** What’s the last town we passed?  
**Lana:** Idk, Cowsville USA?  
**Lily:** I rest my case  
**Lana:** I thought Sam was the lawyer.  
**Lily:** Who do you think had to quiz him? 

Lana threw her phone into her lap, “I was not staring,” she mumbled, resigning to look pointedly out the window. 

Lily smirked a little, “Okay. I’m imagining things then,” she said but her sing-song voice rang through with sarcasm. Lily slipped forward on the seat and wrapped her arm around Sam’s shoulders the best she could as she looked over his shoulder, “Find anything good?”

“Standard fare,” Sam replied with half-interest in his work.

Lily kissed his cheek, “Didn’t Zach do well for himself? Maybe we could even crash a night in their nice house.” A pause, “I bet they have a Keurig.” she said dreamily.

Sam laughed as he set his work aside with a sigh, resigned to finish it later. Lana smiled at the thought, “You know, we could always get one and travel it with us, it would fit in the trunk.”

“What the hell is a K-oo-rig?” Dean asked, annoyed he was out of the loop.

“It’s a coffee maker,” Lily said, “They’re super ‘in’ right now,” she explained. She was often Dean’s connection to the real world. Car rides usually consisted of a session between them discussing one or two modern things that Dean would never be interested in.

“Then it’s totally ‘out’ of my car,” he said, grumpily. No way was his baby toting around some hippie-dippy coffee crap. 

“Oh, come on, Dean I think even you’d enjoy it,” Lana pressed, knowing if one just miraculously showed up one day the girls would get their way. 

“And you know me so well?” he threw her a look into his mirror. 

Lana rolled her eyes to the heavens and back, “Maybe I do. Maybe you’re not as hard to read as you think.” 

“Maybe,” Dean mumbled, his plush lips coming together as if in thought, “Or maybe it’s my pretty face that gives it all away,” his smile grew. His words were followed by a “a-ha!” laugh as Lana pressed herself into the backseat. She could never forgive Bobby.

Deciding she really had to get this back into her favor, Lana leaned forward too, Dean not expecting the movement at all. He was just expecting to once again get in a shot here about how Lana had said he had a pretty face, but now she was touching his shoulders and leaning in to talk gently in his ear.

“Maybe you suck at lying,” she responded, giving him a tight lipped smile and then pulling back. “Wherever we end up, I think Dean and I should hunt for some food while you talk to Rebecca. I don’t want us to overwhelm her with four of us poking our noses into things. You know better how to talk to them.”

Lily smirked, catching Dean’s blush. “That might be best. After what Zach is being charged with, she might need to not have four of us breathing down her neck.”

“Oh, so Lana gets to breathe down mine instead?” Dean asked her, sighing even though it was clear he was flustered. “You’re buying this time.”

“You are such a _gentleman_ ,” Lana responded sarcastically, but she was smirking too.

Sam shook his head at them, everyone pretty quiet as they got into St. Louis, Dean parking at the motel that had been agreed upon. Lana insisted there be two separate rooms, even leaning forward at the front desk to add that they really couldn’t do ‘couple things’ with the others watching. Dean forced a smile on his face to agree, but Lana swatted at his hand when he went to try to get her back with flirting, and they went to their rooms. At least they were next to each other, Lana and Dean taking #4, and Sam and Lily taking #5.

“You really don’t think this is silly?” Dean asked Lana as she hopped onto the bed she wanted. “We do better work with the four of us in one room.”

Lana rolled her eyes. “You have been their third wheel for a bit now, Dean. Just let them have some space. Sometimes--and this might shock you--couples want to have some _alone time_. For sex.”

“I know what for!” Dean replied, sighing and then realizing that that meant him and Lana alone together until they left here. “I still don’t think this is a case. It’s them being sentimental.”

“So what if they are being sentimental?” Lana asked him, shrugging her shoulders. “These are their friends. I know you hate the whole having ties with people because it creates weaknesses, but do you really think you have the two of them until the end of the world, or something? They had a life together, and they probably still want that someday. When we find your Dad--”

“--then they leave,” Dean finished, sighing and sitting on his bed. “I know, but I don’t want them too.”

“Because hunting by yourself is lonely work,” Lana agreed, but she could tell by the look on his face that he didn’t really want to have this conversation: especially with _her_. “Hey, if you didn’t hate me so much, I’d say we could just keep hunting when they stop, but...we all know how that would end.”

Dean glanced at her when the words came out of her mouth, and he sighed again, running his hand down his face. He didn’t hate her--not at all--he just had this feeling in his gut that told him that if the two of them went further than their relationship right now as hunting partners, nothing would be the same. What if she took off too? Sam had left, then his father had left to hunt without him too. If Sam and Lily went back to their old lives, what stopped Lana from getting tired of him too?

“I don’t hate you,” Dean told her, wanting to clear that up at least. “You just aren’t a good wingman.”

Lana smiled a little and got off of her bed to grab a jacket. “I’m really not. I’m more likely to make out with you out of spite for being ignored, than get you a good date. Unless I find a date of my own. Now can we go please? We need to get food and meet up later.”

 **Meanwhile in Room #5**  
Lily looked around their room. Sam had already thrown his duffle onto the chair and slid his laptop onto the table. There was only one bed in the room. One. 

Sam looked up when he realized she wasn’t moving, “You okay?” he asked. 

Lily nodded, “When’s the last time we were alone together? I mean like…for more than twenty minutes?” she finished, finally dropping her bag and sitting on the edge of the bed. 

Sam thought about it, “Uh…good point,” he said, his lips pulling down as he realized she was right. 

“It’s too bad we need to swing by Rebecca’s so soon,” Lily laid back, looking to the ceiling. No sound of Dean cleaning his gun or shoving a handful of peanuts into his mouth…just the blissful sounds of the old AC unit and Sam’s breathing. 

“True,” Sam snapped his laptop shut after writing the address onto a slip of paper to give to the taxi cab, “But today might be like old times…” 

She pushed up onto her elbows, “What do you mean?” 

“We go investigate Rebecca’s claims, hopefully it’s nothing too bad and we get to have a drink with our old friends and then we come back here… _alone_ ,” he finished.

Lily smiled, “Yeah, you’re right,” she sat up, her mind wandering back to the nights they had at Stanford; the blissful mediocrity of school, of the days that blurred together… 

Sam offered his hand and helped her stand but not before pulling her up to a kiss which he held for an extra long moment. 

“Are you sure we have to leave for Rebecca’s _right_ now?” she asked breathlessly. 

Sam smirked, “Yeah, but don’t worry… I won’t forget where we left off,” he tugged her hand and pulled her from the sanctity of their room. He took her to the office where they called a local cab to take them to Rebecca’s. 

Lily had been right, Rebecca lived in a beautiful home and she looked exactly as they had last seen her, “Sam! Lily! My god!” she cried out, pulling them both in for a hug, “Thanks for coming…” she invited them in, ushering them into the kitchen, “It’s been so hard dealing with this alone…it’s so great to see your faces again.” 

“Yeah, you too…” Lily said sincerely, slipping onto one of the kitchen island’s stools. 

“Still family trouble keeping you guys from coming back?” she asked, glancing between the two.

Sam nodded, “Yeah, but we’re making it work.” 

“Good, I’d hate to see talent like yours wasted, Sam. You were really on to something…” 

Lily looked at Sam and every word of Rebecca’s rang true. He had been something — he could have had anything he wanted… but the burden of his last name had other plans. 

Sam gave her a smile and changed the subject quickly, “So, you said you have some things you can show us about your brother’s case?” he said, “Anything you have to start us off would be great.” 

“Yeah,” Rebecca pulled out a few files and her computer, “Zach has a solid alibi but they’re saying the video trumps his rock solid alibi… but how can he be in two places at once?” 

Lily’s eyes wandered as the conversation quickly became insular to Rebecca and Sam. Her social work history was not of much use. She looked around Rebecca’s home: the stainless steel fridge, the sliding glass door to a perfectly manicured backyard, the espresso machine next to the electric kettle… Lily did not spend much time dwelling on what changed that night their apartment burned down but she had been Rebecca’s peer - as much as that might feel alien to her now. This could have been her and Sam’s home… her and Sam’s life together.

 **St. Louis Bar**  
Rock music played in the background of the dim bar. Dean and Lana waited on a text from Sam; their case was in purgatory until then so Dean had a giant juicy burger in front of him with an ice cold beer. A salad was placed in front of Lana and he shook his head, “I thought you said we were getting something to eat, not feeding bunny rabbits,” he took a bite of his burger and the juices dribbled down his chin.

“Laugh all you want but this rabbit is going to live a lot longer than you and your clogged arteries,” she replied, mixing the dressing into her greens, “You know, a vegetable now and again wouldn’t hurt…”

“That’s debatable,” Dean returned with a large swig of his beer.

Lana laughed, shaking her head a little. “Besides, have you read the reviews on this place? It isn’t known for its burgers--once I’ve eaten this salad, I’m going to be diving right into nachos.”

“That sounds dangerous,” Dean replied sarcastically, chewing his food as he spoke.

“The fact that you’re still…” Lana started, but she realized what she was about to say out loud and stopped herself. The last thing she needed was to tell him he was still attractive talking with his mouth full. After Bobby had snitched, she really had to keep this to herself. “Why do you think I jog every morning, Dean? Do you think I _enjoy_ it? No one enjoys running. Not a single person. However, someday someone is going to see me naked again and I am very self conscious about what they’ll see.”

“You shouldn’t be,” Dean answered absent mindedly, realizing what he said and abruptly stopping his chewing. “I mean…”

Blushing and yet smirking, Lana spoke up. “You mean you think I look good naked?”

“I’m trying to eat here,” Dean told her, sending her a look.

She let it go, giving a little laugh before she ate a bit, then ordered a whiskey sour and some nachos. Lana wanted to enjoy this, but soon a woman came over to them, leaning on the bar and looking right at Dean. It made Lana make a face, but Dean couldn’t help but love the attention that he was being given.

“I haven’t seen you around here before,” the woman practically purred, smiling when Dean set his burger down and swallowed before speaking.

Dean chuckled at that. “You come here often, then?”

“I’d come around more often if you were going to be here,” she responded with a wink.

“I was just passing through. Family road trip,” Dean explained, catching her looking at Lana.

She smiled even more. “So, your sister?”

“I am _not_ his sister,” Lana responded before Dean could. “Really? You’re really going to flirt with him? Right in front of my salad?”

“I just assumed since you said family,” the woman replied, turning away from Lana purposefully and looking at Dean. “How long are you going to be in town?”

Lana looked up at the ceiling like she was being incredibly inconvenienced, and set her fork down with a loud noise that made Dean pause. He had been trying to get a rise out of her, sure, but it was clear that this was a little more than just a little bit of jealousy. She was upset, and he was going to have to share a room with her while she was upset, and he didn’t want to do that. At the same time, this blonde was hot, and while Sam and Lily were catching up with their friends, was this so bad?

“I’ve lost my appetite,” Lana explained, getting off of the stool and pulling out her phone to text Lily. “Feel free to continue, but I feel my lunch coming back up.”

She didn’t get why she was acting like this, and started to move past them when she was acting without thinking. Her hand went to the nap of Dean’s neck, and before she could stop herself, she was _kissing him_. Right there at the bar, right in front of the blonde patron that had been hitting on him, and while he had been caught off guard, it didn’t go unreturned there at the end. Once Dean had caught up with what was happening though, Lana had pulled back.

“He’s all yours,” she managed to say, pulling away from him completely in shock. “No, no, no, no, no.”

Oh, that was probably the worst thing that she could have done just there, but she hurried out of the bar just as the bartender had returned with the nachos and her drink. Dean was bewildered, not at all surprised when the blonde moved away from him, and he tried to think but he had no idea what had just happened. At some point too, he was going to have to go and share a room with her, but his phone buzzed and it brought him out of his own thoughts.

Apparently Sam had convinced Rebecca to let them see the crime scene, and Sam wanted Dean and Lana to show up, but Dean didn’t think that was a good idea. So, while Lana was pacing their motel room calling herself an idiot and deciding to pretend the kiss never happened and to keep it to herself, Dean was heading to meet up with Lily and Sam. Sam honestly thought that something was here, and Dean figured it would keep his mind off of what had just happened in the bar.

“Where’s Lana?” Sam asked as Dean got out of the car. “I thought we’d all pool resources to figure this out.”

“She’s, uh,” Dean started, and felt himself flush so he cleared his throat. “She had to handle something else. Besides, we don’t need her: I’m the best. Now…?”

Sam took a deep breath. “I, uh, said you were a cop so she’d let us into the crime scene.”

“We could have broken in, instead and not involved your friend,” Dean pointed out, nodding when Sam did. “Okay then, let’s look around.”

There was blood all over the place, and Dean was even a little concerned that the next door neighbor’s dog had gone kind of crazy when Zach’s girlfriend had been murdered. Animals were pretty sensitive to malevolent things, and with the break in a week prior to steal some of Zach’s clothes, it did seem like maybe this was up their alley. He might have thought it was just sentimentality in the first place, but it was looking more and more like it was their kind of job.

“What did you do to Lana?” Lily asked as she came into the room, looking right at Dean, Sam looking confused. “She says she doesn’t feel up to this right now. Are you being mean to her?”

Dean made a face. “No! I’m not...she’s being...it’s not my fault some girl hit on me at the bar, okay?”

“You are blind and you are fixing this,” Lily told him before she looked at Sam. “Rebecca says she has the tapes, so we should look at them before we send Romeo over here to apologize. If this is something bad, I’d like for her to not be alone.”

“She can take care of herself,” Dean pointed out, but he nodded when Lily gave him a look. “I know, okay? I agree with you too. Let’s check that security tape out first.”

It was easy enough to set up. The disc slipped in and Sam found the timecode where Zach, clear as day, returned to the house. 

Sam let out a low sigh through his lips. It wasn’t a smoking gun, but it was pretty damn close, “Man…” he muttered. He really had faith that Zach was innocent: had he been wrong?

Lily’s stomach churned. She was an expert at reading people: it was kind of her thing… So how could she have been so off about Zach? Had he changed that much in such a short amount of time? 

“Wait,” Dean mumbled. His finger began pointing furiously at the screen, “Go back, go back!” He motioned to make Sam rewind.

“What is it?” Sam asked, letting the clip play over again.

“There, that!” Dean exclaimed, jabbing his finger into the computer screen.

“Oh,” Sam muttered, replaying the clip for a fourth time, “Oh wow.” 

Lily felt out of place, she hadn’t seen anything. These were the times the boys reminded her that they were raised in this and she was the outsider, “What is it?” 

“Eye flare,” Sam responded. The room had gone quiet, the boys were rigid. The entire mood had shifted. Lily did not know exactly what “eye flare” meant but she could read the room: this was _definitely_ something. 

“Shifter?” Dean finally said aloud. 

Sam was processing, “It would make sense wouldn’t it? He’s confirmed in two places at once…” he licked his lips, pausing the video at the very frame where Zach’s eyes seemed to glow in the camera, “Dog goes crazy…”

“That’s not just a crappy camera flare?” Lily asked. 

Sam shook his head, “We’ve seen these before,” he told her, finally looking from the screen to Lily, “Honestly, I can’t believe we didn’t see it before.”

“Can’t be too hard on ourselves,” Dean replied, his fingers ran over the phone in his pocket. Shapeshifters were shifty fuckers — no pun intended. This was way deeper than any of them thought. Lana needed to know, but he did not want to come off unnecessarily worried.

“So...there’s a guy out there running around looking like Zach...but he’s not Zach?” Lily tried to keep up. Between the boy’s nerves and her lack of knowledge in this area she was feeling overwhelmed and she was mad at Dean for leaving Lana behind over their stupid flirting. 

“Maybe,” Sam replied, “But honestly, by now, it could look like anyone… it’ll be almost impossible to figure it out until it strikes again,” he said, the reality that this might happen to another person sinking in. He was failing again; being good, saving people…it didn’t bode well for him. 

“But we gotta do something, maybe we can track it from here. It didn’t exactly try to clean up after itself.” 

“And we have to go get Lana,” Lily said, “This thing can look like anyone and she’s alone in a motel room because you had to listen to your penis!” She accused Dean.

Dean pulled out his phone, “I got it, Munchkin, calm down. We’ll let her know what it is… don’t tell her I said this but she’s a helluva hunter, she can take care of herself.” 

**At Motel Room #4**  
Lana laid on the bed with her head over the edge. The room was upside down from her view and her hair brushed the floor. How would she act when Dean walked through that door? How would _Dean_ be acting when he walked through that door? 

She checked her phone again but it had been radio silence for a while now and she did not know whether to be relieved or worried. 

She was not as calm as she thought she was because when her phone rang, she jumped. 

It was Dean. 

She took a deep breath, told herself to stop being such a schoolgirl and answered the phone, “Yeah? Got anything?”

“It’s a shifter,” Dean’s voice sounded from the other side, “We got a camera flare on the security tape, and we’re trying to track it now.”

“I should be there,” Lana stood, fumbling to gather her jacket. 

“No, no need. Just stay there, don’t answer the door and we’ll swing by for you when we’re do—“ a muffled ruckus sounded but Dean’s voice became Lily’s, “And Dean’s sorry for being a man and he didn’t mean to put you in more danger because his penis is—“ 

A scuffle. Dean grumbling something in audible. Lily shrieking something along the lines of ‘your fault!’ And ‘danger!’ Dean’s voice won out and returned to the line, “Everything’s fine. Stay put. We’ll be back soon, alright?”

“Yeah,” Lana replied, biting her lip, “Yeah okay.”

Now that she knew it was a Shifter, she grabbed her laptop and opened it up, looking for any more weird things in the area that would match up, and pulling out Dean’s police scanner. She turned it on as she ran through articles, hearing something about a man that had thought he’d seen himself in his house, and was arrested for carving up his wife. The woman was still alive, she wasn’t dead, but Lana thought it was worth texting to Lily.

This just got infinitely more frustrating.

 **In the Alley**  
“There is no clear trail,” Sam sighed, looking around. “It keeps ending abruptly.”

Dean nodded as Lily looked around too. “Wait a minute--they like sewers, right?”

“Okay, that sounds truly gross,” Lily told them, but she sighed when they got flashlights, and followed them into the sewers, taking her phone out of her pocket when Lana texted. “Sounds like we figured out a pretty sick MO. Shifter struck and carved up some guy’s wife while assuming his identity. This is...really messed up. Lana says she’s going to go check it out and text me back. She really shouldn’t be doing this on her own.”

“Look, I get it,” Dean sighed as they looked around for any signs of the Shifter down here. “She and I have been dancing around each other since she joined us, but you two didn’t have to let her come.”

“You wanted her here just as much as Lily and I,” Sam pointed out, shaking his head. “Don’t even start with that. Even learning what she was, you side eye her all the time, and she side eyes you. Preaching about not making ties, and then turning around and letting her into your circle of trust, is serious hypocrisy, Dude.”

Dean couldn’t even argue with that, and when they got to a bit of a split, they agreed to split up even though it probably wasn’t the best idea. While Sam and Lily looked around and then managed to get out of the sewer, they were worried when they got street side and Dean was nowhere to be found. He had found the Shapeshifter and gotten knocked out, the Shifter tying him up and then heading up, getting a memory and then shaking the pain off before he saw Lily and Sam on the corner.

He felt different to her suddenly, and Lily wasn’t sure what that meant, but she certainly didn’t want to rule anything out, especially because they’d been separated. At the same time, he was acting like Dean as he and Sam agreed the Shifter was gone, and even had knowledge that Dean would have about a hunt their Dad had thought was a Shifter once before. When he caught the keys Sam tossed him with his left hand instead of his right, however, Lily was on high alert and Sam had his gun drawn on him.

“Don’t move!” Sam told him, Lily moving closer to Sam for protection. “What have you done with him?”

The Shifter shook his head. “Dude, chill. It’s me. How about you calm down?”

“Why don’t you feel like you then?” Lily asked calmly, shaking her head when Sam looked at her. “You have a very set feeling when I’m around you and it’s gone. You’re not...you’re not you.”

“That’s too bad,” the Shifter responded, and just like that, he hit Sam with a crowbar to knock him out, moving to Lily as she moved away from him, to cover her mouth and her nose, knocking her out too.

 **In the Sewer**  
Lily woke up on her own, tied to a pole with her hands behind her back, watching as the Shifter that looked like Dean hit Sam across the face to wake him up. Not only was this incredibly weird, but it hurt her to see it, even knowing that he wasn’t actually Dean. Her ability to sense Dean had come in handy, but he’d gotten the drop on them.

“Where is Lily?” Sam asked, groaning as he realized he was tied too, and then letting out a sound of relief when he saw she was with him and at least alive. “Good. Where is Dean?”

The Shifter laughed. “I wouldn’t worry about him, I would worry about you and your girl here. I swear, the more I learn about you and your family? I thought that _I_ came from a bad background.”

“What do you mean learn?” Lily asked, wanting to keep him talking until she found a way to get free.

The Shifter stopped and held his head in pain, grimacing, and it was then that they got their answer: when he became someone, he took on their memories. So the longer he paraded around as Dean, the more like Dean he was going to become. That wasn’t going to go well if he got free and headed out with Lana not knowing any of this. Her feelings weren’t like Lily’s, so she was vulnerable on her own.

“He’s sure got issues with you, Sam. You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, _I_ had to stay home,” the Shifter explained.” With Dad. You don’t think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you?”

Sam just wanted to know where his brother was, but the Shifter got in his face and told him that he was his brother now. Went on about how he was jealous because he didn’t really have friends or a real like...how he knew that eventually everyone was going to leave him, and looked over at Lily.

“Hey,” Sam said, trying to get his attention on him. “What are you talking about?”

The Shifter looked back at him. “I mean everyone leaves. They get tired of me, or grow to resent me and they take off--even Dad left me. When we find him, you and Lily will ride off into the sunset, but I suppose it isn’t without perks. I mean, Lana offered to hunt with me and wouldn’t that be a hoot? All this pent up sexual tension between her and Dean...I wonder if it’ll amount to anything.”

“If you touch her,” Lily told him, but she was cut off when he gave her a wink.

With a smirk after that, he took off, leaving them there to try and get free.


	6. Under My Skin

**Back in Room #4**  
When Lana made it back to the motel room, she was surprised to see Dean getting there at the same time. She had thought that he was with Sam and Lily, and she was still feeling kind of awkward about the whole thing. After all, the last they’d been in the same space, she’d made a scene, kissed him and left.

“I thought you were with Sam and Lily following a lead,” she offered, giving him a small smile when he turned and looked at her. He was beaming at her, which caught her off guard, and she pulled out her motel room key. “I guess you didn’t have any luck?”

The Shifter shook his head. “Nope, my luck is just beginning.”

As she started to unlock the door, he tucked hair behind her ear, letting his thumb run along her jaw for a moment. An involuntary shiver went down her spine, but she shook her head and turned to him, weirded out by the way he was looking her over. Dean Winchester _never_ looked at her like this, and while part of her liked it, she also felt like she had to shut it down.

“Look, when I kissed you before--”

“--I liked it,” the Shifter told her, shrugging his shoulders. “Look, I’m a dick sometimes. I don’t know how to deal with you because it means admitting I have feelings.”

That wasn’t what Lana was expecting, and neither was his hand sliding down her to rest on her hip and pull her in closer. The thing was, he might have been wearing Dean’s clothes, but he didn’t _smell_ like Dean. Was that a demon thing? Her father had smelt her, so was she unknowingly smelling everyone else? Because as he moved in to kiss her, she felt like something was wrong. Dean wouldn’t admit anything or try to kiss her out in public.

“Whoa, Casanova,” Lana shook her head, pulling back. “What the Hell got into you?”

The Shifter kind of liked this challenge and tightened his grip on her. “Nothing, but I’d sure like to get in--”

“--yeah, no. Let me go,” Lana responded, trying to push on his chest and realizing just how strong he was, eyes widening when his eyes flashed at her. “You’re not Dean.”

“I am now,” he replied, and knocked her out before she could try anything on her, picking her up and slinging her over his shoulder. “Sorry, Sweetheart, but I’ve got plans for you.”

He couldn’t keep her here, but he knew where he could stash her, heading off with her and tying her up before he slid his hand into her pocket and pulled out her phone. After getting it unlocked, he shot off a couple of texts, smiling to himself. _That would buy him a few hours_.

 **In the Sewers**  
Lily struggled against her restraints and then let out a little noise. “I may be petite, but I had a hidden pocket knife.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t take it,” Sam responded, both of them alert when they heard another groan. “Dean?”

“Sam?” Dean asked, groaning and shaking his head as Lily set to work on cutting her restraints. “Thank God. Asshole knocked me out.”

“Yeah, and went out after Lana, looking like you because of your penis!” Lily chastised cutting him off when he started to talk back. “He decided he wanted to look like you, and because you apparently have, what did he say, Sam? ‘ _Unresolved sexual tension_ ’ with her, he went calling. She is on her own because she likes you, Dean. You like her too, you just have this really messed up sense of what a personal tie is. I care about her, okay?”

Dean made a face, tugging at the ropes. “You’re not the only one.”

No one expected him to say anything, but Lily got free and then got Sam’s ropes undone first before she moved to Dean. Then she grabbed a flashlight and jumped a little when her phone went off.

“Oh thank God. She’s safe. She says she’s at the police station asking about the most recent victim, and she will meet us back at the motel,” Lily told them, feeling a little relieved and shooting a text back that she didn’t realize was being answered by the Shifter on Lana's phone. “She says to sit tight there and wait for her to come back.”

“Great!” Dean stood to his full height, happy to be free with only a little wounded pride and masculinity. He paused when Lily did not move away from him and her slight frame remained staunch in front of him, “Uh…Munchkin?” he asked with a brow raised.

She looked up at him with narrowed eyes, “I’m watching you, Winchester,” she said before stepping away to allow him to move and lead them from the sewers. 

To say they were relieved to be out of the sewers was an understatement, “I need a shower,” Lily groaned, rubbing her wrists that were now red and raw from being bound.

“Son of a bitch,” Dean muttered, “Asshole took my car. I hate the thought of that thing driving my baby,” he cradled his sore arm as they trudged forward to make their way back to the motel without their 4th or 5th group members. 

It was quite a journey but the three crammed into room #4 to stick together and wait for Lana. Lily immediately took over the bathroom but left the door cracked open, “When Lana gets back with info, what do we do?” she asked, feeling way in over her head with this case. Shifters were so much more complicated than their usual monsters.

“Find the thing that looks like me, I guess,” Dean replied but the plan had not yet truly formed in his head. Hopefully with his looks and his stolen car he might be easy to track down. 

“Maybe knowing more about his last victim will help put the pattern together. He might be a chameleon but he has an MO. We just have to get the jump on him this time.”

Dean nodded, “Yeah, and the sooner the better. I wonder what it’s going to feel like to punch myself in the face.” 

Sam couldn’t help but laugh, “Pretty satisfying, I think.”

 **Motel Room #12**  
Lana was strong and capable. She could give the Winchester boys a run for their money: but this Shifter? It was supernaturally strong and she’d barely been able to phase him. It managed to tie her to the motel room chair with telephone cord and other random ties taken from throughout the room. It was nothing if not resourceful. 

The Shifter brandished a hunting knife it had taken from Dean’s person when he had made his transition. Lana bit down on the bandana in her mouth — she was still at the motel. There were good odds at some point the three would return there…she just had to get a message to them somehow that she was here.

The Shifter leaned down in front of her, pressing the tip of the blade into the top of her thigh, “You know, with all this pent up energy I can barely contain myself,” he smirked, the knife pressing down enough to break skin. Lana groaned into the gag but maintained strength the best she could, “Boy does he not know what to do with you…” 

The Shifter reached up and pulled the gag from her mouth momentarily, “Can’t wait to see the look on his face when he realizes what he’s done to you,” its eyes glinted, the knife drawing gently from her chin across her jaw to her ear, “But he should thank me, I’m only making this easier on all of you.” 

“You’re disgusting and it’s four against one, you won’t get away with this,” Lana seethed through a terse jaw, trying to avoid the tip of the knife. 

Suddenly, the Shifter backhanded her hard across the face, sending her head to the side as a harsh sting hit her like a ton of bricks.

“Maybe,” he mumbled in Dean’s low voice, “but look how easy it was to take you all down. With this much drama…” he laughed, “I can tear you all apart without even trying… I’ll make Dean-o go last… watch each and every member of his messed up family die at his hands…” he brushed his hand through her hair and it made Lana shiver. 

“Don’t. Touch. Me.” she spat directly into his face. 

He took a deep breath, “We’re done playing nice then…” He forced the gag back into her mouth before he took hold of her wrist with one of his strong hands and positioned the tip of the knife just beneath her fingernail, “Go ahead and scream for me.”

This was what he was good at, after all, carving up people by wearing the face of their lovers. Feeding off of the pain of both parties, but there was something so stubborn about Lana that he didn't get. Something like this should have been easy: he had Dean’s conflicting feelings for her.

"I think he'll be at a loss to see his own handiwork," the Shifter teased, smiling menacingly as Lana whined into the gag as he ran his knife down her arm to make a decent cut. "All these fucked up things he knows how to do, and some of his best tricks--and mine--are coming together beautifully. This would be a lot more entertaining if you'd cry for me...beg me to stop...but no one can hear you just yet. It ruins the plan."

Lana was trying her very best to get through the pain, closing her eyes at one point, only to open them when he made a pained noise. When she opened them, he grunted, then he headed into the bathroom and she heard what sounded like skin ripping, as well as muffled cries. Was he _shifting_ right now? Did he not fully control it?

That confused her for a moment, but nothing confused her more than a very naked Shifter coming out of the bathroom that looked like her. He got dressed in her clothes he'd grabbed from the room before bringing her here, or maybe after to cover his tracks, and smiled as he looked at himself in the mirror as he pulled her jacket on.

"I can see why he's attracted to this body," the Shifter told her, his voice coming out exactly like hers. The headache hit as a memory came to him, and he turned to look at her. "I don't understand you at all. First, apparently you're half demon and yet, I'm not that impressed. Then, you have a perfectly solid Hunter in a room with you, and you're not even going to scratch the itch? Why are you both fighting it so hard? Because you don't think you deserve it? Well boo hoo. At least people look at you."

It dawned on Lana then that part of his motivation was because he was upset. Someone had done him very, very wrong, and now the motivation was to disrupt happy relationships. This Shifter was a psychopath, but Lana couldn't do anything about it, and she flinched when the Shifter tipped her head up to look at her.

"I'll be back to finish what we've started. Marinate a while," the Shifter said, and then grabbed the motel room key and headed out.

 **Motel Room #4**  
Lily was pacing the place, looking up when the door opened, everyone standing up to see the Shifter looking like Lana, come through the door. Before she could sense anything, the Shifter was wrapping its arms around her, hugging her.

"I saw what that asshole did to that guy's wife, it was awful," the Shifter said, pulling back and resting his hands on Lily’s shoulders. "Are you okay?"

Sam stepped closer to Lily and looked at Lana. "Are _you_ okay?"

"I'm fine. Shaken, but fine," the Shifter replied, pulling Lana’s phone out of its jean pocket and unlocking it really quickly before it mused out loud. "We have to find this thing."

"We thought it was coming for you," Dean told it, running his hand down his face. "Luckily you were with the cops."

The Shifter made a face. "Why me?"

"Because you're the closest thing to a significant other that he has," Lily replied, giving Dean a pointed look.

The Shifter took a deep breath, trying really hard here to find the right emotion, or several, to keep Lily off the trail since Sam was looking to her for a sign. "That's really, very sad, Dean.”

Dean made a face, “Yeah well… it’s probably only because it’s easier to keep you in line over Sasquatch here,” he said, referring to Sam. 

“Hey,” Sam glanced over at Dean who shrugged.

“It’s true. You’re gargantuan. Makes you hard to keep down. It’s a good thing, Sammy!” he clapped Sam on the shoulder as he headed for the minifridge. 

“Look,” the Shifter started, “Maybe we should take a break for a little while, get our heads back in this…” it said, “Come back together in like an hour with a better plan to get this thing? It’s … a little crowded in here…”

“I really don’t think we should split up right now,” Sam offered. 

“I’m sure it’s fine. We’re one door away from each other,” Lily offered

Lana was right: it had been one hell of a ride and maybe a break to get themselves together could help them finish this thing off right. Sam sighed, not so sure.

Dean glanced at Lana but busied himself with cracking open a beer, “Yeah, one hour couldn’t hurt.” he took a seat on the bed, realizing just how exhausted he was. When was the last time they slept? 

“Okay then, we’ll see you two soon…” Lily smiled, hoping the two children before her might take the time to sort out the mess between them. She pulled Sam with her out of the room and into the room next door. When the door shut behind them she let out a breath, “Think they’ll finally hash it out?” 

Sam shrugged out of his coat, “Hard to tell. They’re both the most stubborn people ever,” he threw his coat aside. 

Lily, still leaning against the closed door smirked, “Sam Winchester are you trying to seduce me?” she teased after he had stripped of his coat. 

He chuckled. Her little quip had broken some of the tension he was weighed down with and that helped Lily relax too, “No,” he shook his head. He closed the space between them until he looked over her from directly above, “If I was trying to seduce you…” he wrapped his arm around her back and pulled her into his body, “I could do better than that…” he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. 

Lily was able to completely let go of all of the emotions that ruled her mind and focus on one: the way she loved Sam. 

She laughed girlishly when he lifted her off of the ground and tossed her (gently) onto their bed. Lily worked quickly to remove his button down, her fingers pulsing with electricity as she felt his hands at her waistband. 

“Sam,” she muttered breathlessly, one hand moving to brace against his cheek and keep him with her for one solid, perfect moment. He gave her half a smile, his eyes brimming with adoration and excitement, “I’m right here…”

The Shifter could wait another hour…or two.

 **Motel Room #4**  
With Lily out of the way, the Shifter had an easier time in Lana’s skin. It looked in the mirror, primping her hair and pushing out her lips.

“Going somewhere?” Dean asked sardonically.

“No, well, not yet,” it returned, “But I don’t see what’s wrong with trying to look good while we kick some Shifter ass.” Dean pushed his beer hard to his lips to keep from commenting on her good looks. However, the Shifter smirked, “I know you think I’m hot,” it said. 

“What?” Dean replied, quick on the defense, “I never said that. And, hey, if you remember it’s you who kissed me, wasn’t it?” he pointed at her with a firm index finger.

Fake Lana just smiled, “I don’t think I’d kiss a boy if he didn’t think I was pretty….” it flirted. 

Dean took another long swig of his beer.

“Oh, come on, Dean. Your brother’s not around… loosen up a little.”

“I’m loose,” he retorted with a huff. 

“Yeah, you look it…” Fake Lana took a few steps towards the bed. 

He jumped up and shook his head, “Don’t come any closer.” he moved to turn on the police scanner and fill the room with mindless chatter and noise other than her voice. 

“Dean… Dean, Dean, Dean…” it cooed, approaching slowly.

 **Motel Room #12**  
Lana was a professional but this Shifter had done its job well. In her attempt to escape, she had fallen onto her side, chair and all. One ankle was loose and her arm hurt like the dickens but she refused to go down this way. She refused to let that Shifter cause them any more harm. She hated knowing that it was walking around looking like her doing god knows what to some of the few people she cared about. 

“Mumerfumner.” she mumbled into her gag, working hard to free one of her wrists.

This honestly was not how she had hoped that any of this would go. First of all, she’d let the damn thing get too close because she had thought it was Dean at first, and then she’d gone and been a smart ass. Now, this damn thing was dressed as her and it bothered her that one of the thoughts she had was she hoped it didn’t flirt with Dean. The last thing that the two of them needed was more mess.

Wiggling just a little more, Lana got the gag half off and started calling out, hearing the door and praying it wasn’t the Shifter. It wasn’t, it was the maid, and she started making a big fuss, coming over to help Lana even though Lana was trying to tell her it was okay, she was handling it. Then the maid pulled out her phone to call the police, Lana telling her that it was fine, ‘don’t do that’, but she wouldn’t listen. The last thing that Lana needed right now, was the cops everywhere, and she definitely didn’t need to have some of the other people staying at the motel to come in and start spouting off what the guy that brought her here looked like.

“I’m fine, I just want to shower,” she tried, but she knew she was going to have to talk to the cops.

 **Motel Room #4**  
When the police scanner mentioned that there had been another attack in a motel room, Dean was suddenly very alert, and the Shifter made a face. Great, the maid had ruined things, but he was nothing if not quick on his feet, and dressed as Lana, he went for the gun she usually kept hidden around the side of the bed.

“You get Sam and Lily and I’ll go see the commotion,” the Shifter explained, cocking the gun and heading for the door. “Move your ass!”

Heading out, the Shifter moved like it was going toward the commotion to let Dean get Lily and Sam, but then turned and moved to get away. If Lana was free, then they were about to know that the Shifter had been her, and it needed to get really far away and regroup itself. Perhaps shift into Sam or Lily.

“Guys!” Dean exclaimed, banging on their door. “There’s an incident!”

“Yeah, with me,” Lana responded, Dean turning around to see a bloody and bruised Lana with a busted lip and a ripped jacket shaking her head. He felt something inside of him stir--rage maybe--that the Shifter had hurt her like this, and he moved toward her, but stopped when she held her hand up and shook her head. “First thing’s first. Did you kiss me?”

Dean took a breath. “Which time?” he asked, laughing when she threw keys to Room #12 at him that he caught with his right hand. “No, I didn’t kiss you.”

“You better not have,” Lana told him, and then she felt the tears when Dean moved toward her again and this time she let him wrap his arms around her, and she buried her face in the crook of his neck. He smelled like _him_. “You need a shower,” she whispered, both of them laughing a little before Lily opened the door, her and Sam a little disheveled, but Lana just pulled away from Dean and wiped tears away. “Thank God, at least you got alone time.”

“That wasn’t you?!” Lily asked, moving to Lana and pulling her in. “Oh my God, are you okay?”

Lana took a breath and hugged her back, wincing a little, but she needed the hug. “I need a shower, but we have bigger problems because a couple of the other motel goers ID’d Casanova over here carrying me ‘into the room like a caveman’,” she told them, using her fingers in air quotes. “We need to double back to the sewers and catch that thing before it changes from being me. I don’t know if it fully controls when it shifts, but it’s messing with us.”

That didn’t sound good at all, but Lily grabbed her things and so did Sam, all of them heading to the Impala to toss things in and better equip themselves with weapons. They needed to shoot this damn thing with a silver bullet to the heart, and Lana made a face when they got to the sewer entrance.

“You guys were tied up down there? That’s gross,” she told them, taking a deep breath. “But, the bastard ripped one of my favorite jackets, so I think we should shoot him.”

Dean nodded in agreement. “Yeah, he’s wearing my face and now the cops are after me, so it’s kind of personal.”

“Let’s maybe _not_ split up this time?” Sam offered as they climbed down.

“Honestly, we might not have that luxury,” Lana replied, shaking her head.

That made Sam make a face, but she actually had a good point. If they had to split up, then they had to split up, and Lily was smiling a little to herself when they were all down there walking around, Dean was closer to Lana than usual. Sure, he clearly felt some guilt that she’d gotten tortured because of this whole thing, and by the Shifter wearing his face, but Lily knew something else was up too. There was something the two of them weren’t talking about and she wanted to know what that something was.

“So...do we need to talk about the elephant in the room?” Lily asked, moving her flashlight between Lana and Dean. “And maybe why the Shifter thinks you two are on the same tier as lovers?”

Lana made a face. “Because he’s lonely. He said something about how I should just be happy someone looks at me, and I can’t even fault, Pretty Boy over here for _that_. These jeans are killing it for me today.”

“Real mature,” Dean told her, rolling his eyes. “I guess maybe he just wants to feel like he’s not a freak? But he gets off on hurting the people that...maybe he was hurt by someone close to him?”

“We can go over the psychology of it later, but it shed,” Sam told them, shaking his head. “Maybe Lana’s right. Maybe we need to split up.”

Sighing, Lily nodded. “If you feel confused, cut yourself with a knife. The Shifter won’t do that.”

Dean waved his flashlight at Lily, “Good point. Alright, Lana and I will head north — you two head South. Watch each other’s backs.” 

The couples split off and they were soon deep in the bowels of the sewers looking for the evidence of shed skin — particularly Lana skin.

“How messed up is it that we’re looking for me? Or my melted skin?” Lana commented, her flashlight illuminating their oncoming path as Dean used his beam to check around corners and down offshoots. 

“Welcome to the club,” he said half-heartedly, “At least we know a little more of its MO now.”

“What?” Lana asked. 

“It seems to pick the attractive ones out of groups,” he smirked, giving a little chuckle. 

Lana took a deep breath but the smell of the sewer made her wince, “You know, the Shifter told me something like that…” she opened. The Shifter told her things that were in Dean’s head and it bothered her that it now had been in _both_ of their heads.

“I’m sure it said a lot of things to mess with you,” Dean replied without making eye contact. Lana knew he had a point but she also knew the Shifter had no reason to lie. The best weapon it had were the truths in people’s heads. They were dancing around and around their simplest truth but if the music stopped what would happen?

“Yeah, guess so,” Lana took a moment. _Don’t press the issue...don’t press the issue…_ The sewers were dank and she felt like there were phantom bugs crawling all over her, “Ugh, gross,” She muttered, feeling herself step in something sludge-like. 

“Oh-oh, jackpot,” Dean shined his flashlight down: Lana had stepped in a puddle of herself. Lana grimaced, “That’s my top, you sonuvabitch,” she growled at a ruined piece of cloth in the sludge.

Dean sighed, “Could be _anyone_ now. Damn it!” He exclaimed. 

Lana pulled out her phone to text Sam and Lily that they were on the hunt for anyone. “Shit, no service,” she held the phone up, down, and around to try and get a signal but nada. 

Dean ran his hand down his face, “Alright, alright let's think. What does it want? What’s its next move?” 

Lana now realized how close they were standing. Barely inches apart, the hem of his leather jacket brushed the fabric of her jeans. Here they were: solving a case together again. Lana could not explain why but it felt _right_. 

“So...it shifts into people and tortures their loved ones to death. But… it’s been messing with us and we’re all still alive… Honestly, I don’t think it’s done with us,” Lana admitted.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Dean nodded, “Betcha it’s biding its time...the four of us on one isn’t great odds for it, even if it’s got Hulk strength. It’s a survivor above all else.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Lana felt the electric current between them as they put their heads together to fight evil, “So, my best guess is that its turned back into you,” Lana said, “Trust me, it seemed to _really_ like being you and...it knows the most about you now so it can fake you better.”

Dean groaned, “He might be handsome but I’m gonna gank that sucker.”

“Which also means it’ll probably find Sam and Lily first because—“

“Because we know I’m me...but they don’t.” 

“We should hurry.”

“You think?!” Dean and Lana rushed in the direction from whence they came. 

**Across the Sewer System**  
Sam and Lily walked close together, Lily first with Sam right behind her. He stepped in time with her, his body naturally in a stance of protection over her. 

Lily hated being in the sewer. To be fair, Sam wasn’t wild about having to stoop down every six feet or so because of narrow passages and low hanging pipes. This was not a system built for tall folk.

“How will we know when we see it, if it could look like anyone?” Lily asked, wishing this case would be over and they could all climb back into the sanctity of the Impala and put St. Louis in their rear view. She was down on herself; she felt naive. Lily had truly believed they had come to St. Louis and were going to help an old friend and then get to spend time with each other like they had at Stanford. But this was her life now: sewer exploring and Shifter hunting. 

“We just have to be careful and trust that Lana and Dean didn’t split up.”

“I don’t think they’ll leave each other,” Lily confirmed. 

“I think you’re right,” he replied. The dark tunnel opened into a wide berth. A few candles burned and created morbid shadows on the damp stone walls.. Amongst the candles were scattered remnants of ruined lives: watches, jewelry, wallets, bloodied ropes and chains. Lily shivered, “How long do you think it’s been living down here?” 

“I’d tell you, but I know you don’t like sad stories,” Dean’s voice sounded behind them. Before Sam could turn around, the Shifter pistol whipped him and sent Sam hurdling to the ground and out cold.

Lily screamed but the Shifter was on her in an instant. It pressed his hand against her mouth, “Don’t want them all rushing here too soon and ruin the surprise. You always want to be a part of our cases and now’s your chance, Munchkin.”

At the sound of the Shifter using Dean’s intimate nickname for her she bit down on his finger as hard as she could, “Don’t call me that.”

Her biting his hand only made the Shifter tighten his grip on her, covering her mouth again as he dragged her further into the sewer while Lana and Dean hurried to get to her. What they found instead, was knocked out Sam and no Lily, and while Dean tried to wake Sam up, Lana went rogue and headed off without him, deeper into the sewer. She was _not_ about to lose Lily to some Dean wannabe.

“Lana!” Dean hollered after her, but he couldn’t just take off after her, and he nodded when Sam groaned. “You gotta get up. Our girls are that-a-way.”

Sam shook his head and let Dean help him up. “Splitting up was _not_ a good idea.”

“I mean...maybe not, but did we really have a choice?” Dean asked him, Sam brushing himself off as they moved further into the sewer too.

While the boys were trying to catch up, the Shifter had gotten Lily all tied up, and he smirked a little as she struggled. Something about this had him riding a high, but he also felt like if he was going to get another kill, he was going to have to work pretty fast. At the same time, he needed to make the others watch. What were they going to do if they lost the one thing all of them seemed to love?

“You know...you’re the favorite,” the Shifter told Lily, shaking his head and pulling his knife out. “You’re the link I was kind of missing. See, Sam loves you, Lana would do anything for you, and Dean? You’re the little sister he never had. Just think about how terrible they’ll feel when they catch up and see me slit your throat…”

Lily glared at him. “Good luck with that.”

“Don’t get so high and mighty, _Munchkin_ ,” the Shifter replied, using the nickname on purpose just because Lily hated that he was using it. “I must say, I will be sorry to lose this skin. Being Lana was a lot of fun--don’t give me wrong--but Dean is really something else. He’s got a lot of good qualities mixed in here and I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he realizes it’s his fault his ‘Munchkin’ got hurt.”

He was about to say something else when a noise alerted them both, Lily seeing Lana get there. When her gun raised up to point at the Shifter, he hid a little behind Lily, however, and Lana took a deep breath. She couldn’t just shoot him when it might hurt Lily, but she shook her head.

“Both the girls are here! How nice for me,” he said, moving when Lana did and trying to make sure he stayed out of her eye line. “Two for the price of one.”

Lana shook her head. “You think I’m going to let you touch her anymore?”

“Do you have a choice?” the Shifter asked, shaking his head. “You realize that I know you, right? That I’ve _been_ you.”

“Then you know I’m a pretty good shot,” Lana told him, cocking the gun and moving again. “You can’t dodge me forever, and if it comes down to me or her, you’re taking me.”

“Lana,” Lily shook her head, but she had to admit, she was touched by the thought.

The Shifter straightened up, moving to put the knife to Lily’s throat. “That’s very noble, but do you really think that you can shoot me before I kill her?”

“I think that I could, yes,” Lana responded, though she wasn’t quite sure.

“You’d really shoot Dean? I know how much you appreciate his face,” the Shifter taunted.

“By now everyone knows I appreciate his face, but you’re not him,” Lana told him as the boys came up, and Lana focused as hard as she could, forcing the Shifter’s hand with the knife away from Lily’s throat, blood trickling from her nose as she hurried toward him, Sam getting a shot off that hit the Shifter in his arm.

That made him back up enough that Dean could shoot him in the heart with the silver bullet while Lana moved to Lily to get her untied and then shielded her even though it was clear that the Shifter was dead. Dean moved to the Shifter as Sam wrapped his arms around Lily and kissed the top of her head, Lana watching Dean pull his necklace off of the Shifter, and she nodded.

This had been a nightmare.

 **The Next Day - Rebecca’s House**  
Lana hadn’t felt up to jogging that morning, but she had been pretty thankful to Rebecca for letting her use her shower. Sam and Lily had tried to explain everything to her, and told her Dean was in fact not a killer, but it would be helpful for Zach because it would get him off the hook. It put Dean _on_ the hook, but Dean was pretty sure that he could handle it, they’d just have to be a little more careful.

Lily and Sam were downstairs talking to Rebecca, Lana jumping a little bit when she saw Dean standing in the doorway waiting for her. He didn’t want to be down there in the middle of Sam and Lily talking to their friend and reminiscing about college, and he smiled a little.

“Didn’t mean to scare you,” Dean said, shaking his head. “You doing better?”

Shrugging, Lana moved a little closer to him as she spoke with her hands. “I mean, sure. Lip’s still busted and I had to stitch my arm up, but I’ll be fine. Bruises heal.”

Dean nodded, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and then pulling his hand back. This wasn’t the time to talk about things, but he had to admit he smiled a little when she reached up and held his hand to her face. They should really talk about this, but for a moment they just stood there and nodded at each other, and then Dean pulled his hand away and they both nodded at the slightly charged, but awkward moment.

“What are you gonna do about you now that you’re a wanted man, huh?” Lana teased, trying to save the moment as Dean rolled his eyes and stepped up close.

“It’s kind of exciting, huh?” Dean wiggled his eyebrows and laughed when Lana rolled her eyes back. “Hey...thanks for what you did for Lily. You can’t go running off after her without backup though.”

Lana reached out and rested her hands on his jacket, looking up at him. “Worried about me? It’s sweet, but I can take care of myself, and I’d like to think that even though I got tortured by your evil Doppelganger, that I can still take care of her too. I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself if something happened to her, so you don’t have to thank me. I’d do the exact same for you and Sam.”

There was a moment where they both thought another kiss might happen, but they pulled away from each other when they heard feet on the stairs coming up. Dean was the first to nod and leave the room, Lana realizing she was blushing and had been holding a breath in. It was just Sam, Lily downstairs saying a proper ‘goodbye’ to Rebecca, and he smirked a little when he looked up from talking to Dean in the hallway and saw Lana coming out of the same room sporting red cheeks.

“Okay, tell me straight: is there something going on here?” Sam asked, motioning between his brother and Lana. “Because--”

“--Sam? Don’t,” Dean replied, shaking his head.

Lana smiled and forced a face. “Ew, okay? He was just making sure I could still fight and trust me, I can. Besides, he ain’t no Shifter: I could kick his ass.”

“Something had to have happened for the Shifter to think you’re the closest to a love interest that Dean could get here,” Sam laughed, shaking his head.

“Or, Dean and I were the only two left to try to pair off when he realized you and Lily were taken by each other. It was a logical conclusion,” Lana put in, Dean agreeing with her--but that only made Sam more suspicious.

“I mean, if I’m hitting a nerve…” Sam started.

Dean shook his head and moved past Sam. “Let’s just go.”

 **Rebecca’s Kitchen**  
“I’m sorry Dean’s getting blamed,” Rebecca told Lily as they drank lemonade in the kitchen together. “Can’t say I’m sorry my brother is coming home though. Are you guys going to be okay? I mean...at least you have each other.”

Lily smiled and nodded. “We’ll be okay. Hunting is lonely work, but I’ve got three people I know have my back no matter what.”

“Yeah, you can tell they care about you, and I’m happy for that,” Rebecca smiled, lowering her voice. “Just be careful, okay? I want you to be safe, and you and Sam? I don’t know, I guess I just pictured you guys getting engaged or something by now. Settling into a house of your own--especially after the fire. I mean, it would have been an upgrade. I just want you to be happy.”

Lily felt a swell of happiness hearing her old friend (from her old life) tell her she wanted her happiness. After a pause, “I thought so too but there’s some things that we need to take care of before…” Lily tried to explain, knowing she should not dive too deep into “ _saving people, hunting things_ ” with Rebecca but the girl was sorta ‘in’ on it now so a little bite wouldn’t hurt, “Sam still wants the normal stuff. He doesn’t talk about it much but I can read him and…I think there’s still a chance for us so, don’t worry.”

Rebecca rubbed Lily’s shoulder, “Okay, well maybe call every once and a while?” 

Lily smirked, “So long as I don’t get stuck in any more signal-less sewers, you’ve got a deal.” 

They laughed and it was the first normal moment Lily had experienced since the fire. She and Rebecca were wrapped in a hug when the room was suddenly filled with three other people.

“We should hit the road,” Dean said lightly, “Hate to run out on you Rebecca but now that Zach’s safe we uh— we should be moving on.”

Rebecca nodded, “Don’t worry, I’ll tell the cops you left in the other direction,” she winked. 

Dean chuckled and the group said their final goodbyes. They converged upon the Impala; they were all tired but there was a renewed sense of hope in their purpose. Suddenly, Lily hugged Dean and confusion drew his eyebrows upwards. He wrapped his arms around her but asked, “You okay? You sure we got the right Lily back?” he laughed. 

Lily hit her palms against his broad chest, “Not funny.”

Sam, Dean, and Lana laughed as Dean stated, “Oh, yeah, we did.”

Lily didn’t have to state what she was thinking and for the sake of Dean’s ego it was better she let this one lie. She meant what she said to Rebecca about wanting the picket fence-apple pie life with Sam but she knew in this moment while she climbed into the car with Sam, Lana, and Dean that even if she and Sam never made it to “normal” that she was a pretty lucky woman. Who could say they had a family like hers?

Lana climbed into the passenger seat and Dean looked over at her. 

“Look, I let Sam pick the last case and co-pilot us into the sewers of hell. It’s my turn,” she said. Sam laughed as he situated his long-ass legs in the back seat with Lily. 

“C’mon, Lana… getting to talk to yourself? Isn’t that like therapy?” Sam teased as Lily pressed herself into his side, the weight of her exhaustion kicking in.

“Yeah, sure, I’ll bill you,” Lana retorted. 

Sam smiled, “That’s fine, but we all know Dean’s the money-maker.”

“That’s right,” Dean popped in his BOC cassette, “And we are fresh out of loans.” 

The Impala faithfully brought them back to the interstate so they could put St. Louis in their rearview mirror. 

“So where to, Co-Pilot?” Dean teased Lana. The car had fallen quiet. Lily had instantly fallen asleep and Sam was content to watch over her.

“Is there a city without sewers?” Lana retorted.

Dean shook his head, “Doubtful,” he returned, leaning back against his seat as the road opened up in front of them, “But I’ll make you a deal. We’re going to put at least 500 miles between us and my mugshot and then we’ll stop. Food, sleep, maybe a little pool hustle.” His interest in seeing her hustle some dumb men in a bar and bleed them for all they were worth was piqued, to say the least. 

Lana nodded, “Alright,” she said. She had not thought about anything outside the Shifter for days but Dean was right: they were running on empty in almost every way, “Although,” she slipped her hand into her jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Upon reveal, it was a wanted poster of Dean’s suspect sketch, “I think we should frame it.”


	7. Jealousy and Witchcraft

**At a Bar, New Mexico**  
It had been a few weeks since the Shifter incident, trying to make sure Dean wasn’t recognized, and trying to stay as far from St. Louis for now as they could. Even if it had been kind of a hot mess, the incident had bonded them, and so had the hunts that had come after. They were a cohesive unit, and they had started to come up with some pretty cohesive routines, especially when it came to Lana making sure that Sam and Lily got alone time every once in a while because they really needed to still feel like a couple.

Not that they had to have sex to do that.

Still, Lana and Dean were out hustling while Sam and Lily were in their motel room, and they were doing really well. Actually, they were a pretty great team when it came to hustling, and Lana liked to think it was because she was well...a woman. It was easier for her to distract the big guys that thought that they could take her, and didn’t take her seriously when she played.

“You ran that table,” Dean commented as they used some of their newfound money to order some shots. “Every single time it is actually impressive.”

Lana smiled and tilted her head playfully. “Oh, I know.”

Did they still argue? Of course, and Sam was always the first to make that noise he did when he was done, but Lana and Dean had reached a new level of appreciation for each other when they were alone. Dean didn’t want to give Lily the satisfaction of being right, and Lana wanted to pretend that these feelings for Dean were literally anything but romantic...even though they were definitely romantic. It wasn’t like Dean didn’t feel the same either, but he also didn’t want to be the one to say anything first.

“Hey,” came a male voice to break Lana and Dean’s eye contact.

Lana turned to see a handsome man smiling at her and she smiled back. “Hi.”

“I saw you guys playing pool over there--you’re really good,” he said, leaning his hand on the bar top on the other side of her and smiling. “Can I buy you a drink?”

“Really? In front of my shots?” Dean asked out loud.

It wasn’t fully because of the jealous feelings rising up inside of him, but it was definitely part of it--the other part was he wanted to get her back for the blonde back during the Shifter case. Lana realized that too, and smiled as she turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow at his outburst. The other guy straightened up like he’d stepped in something, but didn’t make a move to go.

“The man just wants to buy me a drink for my victory over the pool table,” Lana pointed out, but it was clear to Dean that she was playing a dangerous game with him.

Dean pursed his lips together and smiled a less than friendly smile. “I’ve got her drinks, but thanks.”

“Sorry, Man,” the guy said as he held his hands up in surrender, and then looked at Lana.

“Thanks for saying ‘hi’,” Lana told him, laughing a little when she turned to Dean. “That was something.”

She didn’t like that she had these feelings, but when Dean gave her that look, she couldn’t help but bite her lip and that made Dean shake his head at her. That only complicated things for him, and he slung the shot back, shaking his head at her when she stood up and put her hand on the bar, a little closer to him. Nope, if she got any closer, things were going to happen that could not be taken back.

“You need to sit your butt back on that stool,” Dean said, but he sucked in a breath of air when she completely ignored him.

Lana took a breath. “For two seconds, just me and you, pretend nothing about this is complicated.”

“Dangerous line,”

“Yeah, but I don’t care.”

Every bit of him was screaming to just walk away, but after a mumbled ‘sonuvabitch’, he was closing the distance, his turn to make the move, and their lips connected for one blissful moment...until a scream broke them apart. Lana was moving before Dean was, grabbing her jacket and going outside to see a body in the alley. She looked up at the sky with a sigh and then moved closer, wanting to get a good look before the cops came, because a crowd started to form as Dean came out too.

“I guess we’re staying in town a little longer,” Lana told him, shaking her head and sneaking some pictures. “Come on, we gotta keep you away from cops and go tell Sam and Lily.

**Back at the Motel**  
Lily had to admit, despite the minor inconvenience of Dean being wanted by the FBI, the past few weeks had been good for them. Lana fell into step with their travels and it had taken the pressure off of her and Sam to always include Dean (or for Dean and Sam to not feel guilty when Lily was the odd man out). 

Lily and Sam laid in bed, not clothed and entwined in each other. These were the moments that felt normal and gave her hope that maybe a normal future was obtainable, “I kind of like it here,” Lily looked around. They were in New Mexico, just outside of Santa Fe. A vast desert surrounded them. Everything was adobe style or took a southwestern flare. It was a good change of pace. She pressed herself into Sam because it was later in the evening and desert nights were surprisingly cold. 

“It’s not too bad,” Sam agreed, happy to hold her against him. Lily ran her fingers over an old wound at his shoulder and she frowned, “Still there, huh?”

Sam brushed her hand away from his scar and brought her fingers to his lips, “Yeah, but it’s nothing to worry about.” She kissed him again and slid her leg over his hips suggestively, “Wanna…?” she bit her lip, nudging to see if he wanted to go again.

He smirked and leaned in to kiss her, rolling her flat onto her back. 

**Motel Parking Lot**  
Dean parked outside the room and cut the engine.

Lana stepped out first, “I’m going to get us some drinks. We need to hydrate and I’m sure they do too… we likely have a case on our hands.” Lana dug into her pocket for change, “Remember to knock!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dean was half listening. He was counting his hard-earned cash again and digging around for the motel room key. Finally drawing it from the depths of his pocket he opened the door. 

“WOAH!” Dean exclaimed, throwing his arm over his eyes and taking an immediate step back. 

Sam rolled over and Lily pulled the sheet up to her chest. A moment later Lana strode in with an armful of gatorades from the vending machine, “I told him to knock.”

“Yeah, this isn’t our fault,” Lily said simply, looking towards the door Dean hovered just outside of, “Dean I thought you learned your lesson after Vegas!” 

“You two knew we’re sharing a room !” 

Sam slipped on his pants beneath the blankets so he could leave the bed and throw Lily her clothes. “Thanks,” he accepted a gatorade from Lana who was nonplussed about the situation. 

“And you knew we were alone!” Lily replied, finally throwing some of her clothes on so that she became decent, “Besides, what’s the rush?” 

Lana poked her head out the door, “You can come in now,” she smirked.

Dean carefully entered the room, barely able to make eye contact with his brother or Lily. He shuddered, “That was too close.”

“Oh c’mon Dean we weren’t doing anything.” Lily took her own drink and plopped back down atop the bed. 

Dean made a sound to tell her to just stop talking about it, “Besides it’s urgent.”

“Urgent?” Sam asked, turning his shirt back inside out and throwing it on over his broad chest, “What happened? You two hustle the wrong guy?” 

Sam wasn’t a fan of hustling to make money but he couldn’t exactly get a day job and Lana and Dean were exceptionally good at it. 

“No,” Dean replied sardonically, “We had a body, outside the bar,” Dean explained. Lana took the opposite seat at the small table by the window. 

“What makes you think it's our kind of thing?” Sam asked.

“Well,” Lana clicked through her phone, “I got some pictures,” she passed the phone to Sam who took a seat next to Lily who looked over his shoulder. 

“We waited nearby for the paramedics and I was able to get a little bit of information before it got too hot and we got Dean out of there,” Lana explained, “It was weird: no bullet or stab wounds. They deployed their defibrillator but that’s when they discovered it.” 

“Oh,” Sam realized what she was talking about when he paused at one photo. It was a little hard to read but he could tell there was something on the man’s chest when the paramedics had opened his shirt, “What do you think it was?”

“I couldn’t get too close but they looked like markings but … also burn marks? I don’t know,” she shrugged.

“Tomorrow we should head to the morgue, get a better look,” Dean said, “It looks ritualistic.” 

“Yeah,” Lana finished, “But like…supernaturally ritualistic. I don’t know of any cults that make _that_ happen.” 

“Well…ghosts and demons do love their MOs,” Sam handed Lana back her phone, “I think we could be up for the morgue tomorrow. If we go early enough we usually hit an intern who doesn’t care and lets us poke around,” he suggested.

“Good idea,” Lana returned.

“How early?” Lily asked, trying to remain casual but her question interested Dean as well. 

“I don’t know,” Sam shrugged, “530, 6?” 

“And if I want to go running that means I think I’ll get up at about 430,” Lana calculated in her head.

Dean and Lily shared a _look_. 

“Don’t worry,” Sam laughed, seeing Lily’s horrified face, “You can sleep in the car. No offense but you never pass for a very good detective.” 

“I beg your pardon?” she asked. However, he was right. She was too feminine, too small. It was already hard being taken seriously as a woman but nothing about her being screamed “cop”. Lana, on the other hand, suited up with a great jacket and holster and she could have her own procedural show or a _really_ good night of role-play sex.

“At least that means I get to change because this is my lucky shirt,” Lana told them, opening up her duffel and grabbing a new shirt. “I want to swing back by the bar and check for some tracks.”

Dean nodded slowly. “I should go with you.”

Lana glanced at him, kind of wanting that to give them time to actually talk, but then she shook her head. “I don’t think things are quiet enough for you to go back there.”

“You shouldn’t go alone though...I’ll go with you,” Sam piped up.

Honestly, they might have been a four person unit, but they hadn’t really split up in teams of Dean and Lily, and Lana and Sam all that often. It would give them more chances to bond, and Lily could handle Dean. Besides, Sam agreed that they should look for more signs since it had been hard to do it before with the group forming and the paramedics coming in. By now, they’d have set up some tape, and there would probably still be cops, but it would be good to look around.

“I suppose you two do look the most menacing,” Dean teased, he and Lana smirking at each other before they remembered the other two were in the room, so the eye contact broke. “Munchkin and I can look at the records of deaths around the place while you’re gone.”

Lana smiled and then went into the bathroom to change her shirt and grab a darker jacket, rummaging through their communal box of fake ID’s for the right ones before she smiled at Sam leaning down to give Lily a loving kiss. She felt bad that they had interrupted them, but they could make it up to them later. Moving to Dean, Lana held both her hands out and smiled, and he gave her a look.

“Please? I wanna drive,” Lana pouted, blushing a little when Dean stepped closer to her and fished his keys out, holding them out of her reach when she tried to grab them. “Dean…”

Dean put on a serious face. “Do not scratch her.”

“Oh my God, I’m not going to hurt her. We’re just going to bond,” Lana responded, smiling triumphantly when he set his keys in her hand. “Thank you!”

With that, she practically bounded out of the door, Sam shaking his head a little and following her, getting into the passenger seat. He could tell something was up, and bringing it up with Lana was probably a lot easier than bringing it up with Dean, so he might as well ask.

“So...you two are cozier,” Sam told her, watching her reactions and noting the blush. “I’m just saying, we’ve all gotten closer but uh, Lily and I can tell.”

Lana took a deep breath and put a ‘Queen’ cassette in. “You can tell...what?”

“You could cut the tension with a knife,” Sam replied with a nod.

“Is this some kind of, ‘hurt my brother and I’ll hurt you’ speech, because if it is, you should save it,” Lana explained, glancing at Sam as she drove them back to the bar. “Dean and I are... _complicated_ …”

Sam nodded and looked back out the windshield as Lana did too. “I know you both feel this need to distance yourselves just in case, but it’s different. You both understand the lives we lead and that’s why it’s scary.”

“Well aren’t you a therapist?” Lana laughed, but she smiled at him as she parked. “I hear you, but honestly, I’m not sure exactly how it would work. Ignoring it and doing the job is so much easier. Besides...at some point, something’s going to happen, you’re all going to see my eyes flash, and everything will be over.”

Sam hadn’t realized that Lana thought they were going to leave her too, but when he started to try and say something else, she had already gotten out of the car. It was clear she was in ‘job mode’ now, so he just took a breath and joined her, asking the cops some questions while she started wandering the alley and checking the sidewalk and the nearest road for clues.

“This is the third death like this,” Sam told her when he joined her around the corner. “Not exactly the same symbol, but the same kind of thing. A body dumped off.”

Lana nodded as she checked what looked like blood on the side of another building. “I don’t think that alley is where they died, but Lily would be the one to ask. She has better feelings about things like this.”

**Back at the Motel**  
“Guess what I brought?” Dean announced once the other two had left. “I brought snacks.”

Lily laughed, reaching for some and then sitting down with the laptop. “You’re just trying to distract me from the elephant in the room, but I thank you for sustenance.”

“Yeah, sure,” Dean replied as he flipped through a bestiary to search for the symbol the old fashioned way. “I know Lana said she didn’t know of any cults, but what if it’s more of a hoodoo thing? Maybe witches?”

“Like a _Hocus Pocus_ thing?” Lily asked with a mouthful of potato chips. 

“A what thing?” Dean asked. He could forget that Lily had a relatively normal childhood (minus the whole mother-dying-on-the-ceiling thing) and that she was still barely a year into being a Hunter. She was a good study buddy but she wasn’t Sam who would understand his hunches immediately.

She also had a lot of pop culture references that consistently flew over his head. 

“ _Hocus Pocus_ ,” Lily repeated, “Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker?” 

“Ooh… Sarah J…” Dean took a moment. Lily rolled her eyes, “Never mind. But you think real life witches would do this to someone?”

“Heck yeah. Witches are nasty ones to be on the wrong side of,” he flipped quickly through the book for any mention of ‘witches’ or related keywords.

“Huh,” Lily switched gears in her search for the symbols, “Wait,” she muttered to herself. She took another handful of chips and clicked away with purpose. As she did so, her phone rang. The ID read: _Lana FoFana_ (a drunken addition to her contact card). 

“Can you get that,” Lily said, small granules of salt flying from her mouth as she resolutely researched a hunch. 

Dean reached over and snagged her phone and answered, “Hello?” he asked in an obnoxiously high pitched voice, “Lily speaking.” 

“Oh my God!” both Lana and Lily, in separate places, exclaimed at the same time.

Dean laughed, “Yeah,” he let his voice drop back to normal, “Everything okay?” 

“Yeah,” Lana replied, “But I did call _Lily_ and yet here you are.”

“Lily’s busy but I promise I’ll get the message to her,” Dean replied, a slight icy edge to his voice. 

“Look, I think we need Lily to feel this out,” she said, “It’ll be too hard to sneak her into the morgue but I think she might be able to tell us more about this crime scene.” 

“Okay…” Dean trailed off, “But you’re not here and I haven’t forgotten you have my baby.”

“And she’s _fine_! Ask Lily if she’s up for it. I think we’re going to swing back and I’m going to bring Lily to check it out.” 

“Yeah uh,” Dean leaned away from the mouthpiece of the phone and towards Lily, “Wanna go check out a crime scene, Munchkin? Lana thinks your spider senses will be all tingly…” 

Lily shrugged, “Sure,” she said, before spinning her laptop around to show Dean her findings. 

“How’d you do that?” Dean asked, forgetting he was on the phone for a moment.

“Do what?” Lana asked on the other end.

“Oh, uh, nothing, not you. Yeah. Lily’s down to check it out. So why don’t you bring my baby back so I can inspect her before I even think about letting you leave again.”

Lana rolled her eyes despite knowing Dean couldn’t see her, “Look, we’ll see you soon.”

“Likewise,” and the phone call ended. Dean looked over the webpage Lily had brought up. There were similar symbols to the ones Lana had seen on their victim, “Where’d you find this?”

“Reverse image search,” Lily said simply. She slipped off the bed to find suitable clothes to leave into the night with, “I cropped in Lana’s photo and had Google do the rest.”

Dean nodded along as if he understood but it was in one ear and out the other, “We’ll have Lana and the professor take a look at it when they get back.”

**In the Impala**  
Sam was fairly certain the alley was merely a dumping ground and if Lana was right and there were other body dumps like it then that narrows it down to two possibilities: a Santa Fe serial killer or a New Mexican vengeful creature or spirit. 

“Look, I do think there is something we should talk about,” Sam opened when they hit the road.

“Sam. Me and your brother—“ Lana started, unsure of how to throw Sam off of their scent. She barely knew herself what ‘it’ was or what was possible, let alone being able to verbalize it to Dean’s younger brother.

“No, sorry,” Sam gave half a laugh, “No, uh, it’s about Lily.”

“Oh,” Lana replied sheepishly, “Yeah, go ahead.” 

“I just want to make sure we don’t rely too much on her feelings… She won’t talk about it with me but I know they weigh pretty heavy on her and she doesn’t need anymore trouble than she already has by…” Sam trailed off unable to phrase it but Lana jumped right in: 

“By traveling the country with three insane Hunters on some crazy dangerous, never-ending road trip?” Lana gave him half a smile as she made a sharp right turn. 

Sam nodded, “Yeah,” he laughed at her phrasing, “Yeah something like that.”

“Look, Sam. I love Lily too… I won’t put her in harm’s way. I just think we might be on a ticking clock until the next body dump and if her intuition can help us? It could save someone's life and you know that’s what she would want.”

“Yeah, I know, but sometimes that’s the problem. She’s too good.” 

Lana rolled the car to a stop at a four way intersection. She was able to turn herself to look better at Sam at the moment the car became still, “You mean she’s too good for _you_?” 

Sam shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t answer but his face and his silence were tell-all. 

“Sam Winchester. Don’t you ever think that. You boys might have had a hell of a childhood and we all might be stuck in this crazy fucked up life of supernatural crap but never, not for one second, are you not everything that girl needs. Do you hear me?”

Sam nodded. Lana had a rare intensity and pointed honesty that subdued him immediately, “Yeah, I hear you.” 

“Good,” Lana pressed the gas and got them moving at a high rate of speed once more. She realized the mood in the car had taken a downturn and she did not have time for the existential fears of a Winchester right now, “Besides, where else in your life has your freakish height been an advantage? Sam, that girl is head-over-heels, swing-for-the-fences in love with you.” 

Sam laughed, “That’s not totally fair,” he started, not missing the latter comment that made him feel a little more confident in his life with Lily, “I can reach things on high shelves and you can’t lose me in a crowd.”

Lana laughed too, “See?!” she slapped his knee, “Who wouldn’t love a load of that?”

It was nice to be at an understanding together, and when they got back to the motel, Sam opened up the door and Lana smiled as Lily grabbed her jacket. Dean came over to her almost immediately with his hand outstretched for his keys, Lana rolling her eyes but following him to go and watch him circle his car.

“Are you for real?” Lana asked, crossing her arms over her chest. “You gotta be kidding me by now.”

Dean ignored her and knelt down to check the rims. “You never know!”

“He does it to Sam too,” Lily explained as she came out to stand next to Lana. “We should do this as a ‘No Boys Allowed’ trip. Sam’s here and he can help narrow down any new information.”

He didn’t know how he felt about it, but he tossed Lana back the keys anyway and then nodded. “Gas her up before you come back this time, okay? And remember what I said…”

“If it comes down to Lily or me, it’s going to be me. Memorize it...eat it...go inside,” Lana replied, giving him a smug smile when he smirked and shook his head, going back inside the motel.

“I might be little, but I’m not unable to protect myself,” Lily said, tilting her head to the side.

Lana turned to look at her, knowing suddenly how that had sounded, her and Dean arguing over what to do when the girls were alone. She actually felt bad she’d said it, and she reached out to pull Lily into a hug. In no universe did Lana want Lily to feel like she was fragile or she had to be watched 24/7.

“You’re right,” Lana nodded, kissing the side of her head and then pulling back to look her in the eye. “I just...I think sometimes I get a little over-zealous. You guys matter more to me then…”

“...then you matter to yourself? Lana, I care about _your_ safety too. We have to be a partnership here, especially in the face of incredibly over-protective boys, okay?” Lily asked, nodding when Lana agreed. “Good. I know I’m not as well versed at all of this, because I’m new to things, but I’m not…”

She trailed off, looking for the right word, but Lana nodded and told her that she got it even if she hadn’t felt the feeling before. Lily was capable of all kinds of things, and if no one ever let her do stuff, she was never going to learn the way the others had. Lana still had this mother bear feeling, like she had to protect her, but she knew she could make the effort to let Lily protect her too.

Getting into the car, Lana let Lily pick the music, and she smiled at her as she drove, her hands occasionally gripping the wheel. Lily noticed that things were off with her, and she turned a little in the passenger seat to look at Lana, which Lana noticed out of the corner of her eye. It made her laugh, but it also made her feel like she was about to be asked about Dean _again_. At least with Lily, it was easier to confide things in her than it was for her to confide things in anybody else. It had been over a decade since Lana had really had a friend to talk to, and it was nice that she and Lily had each other like this.

“Are you okay?” Lily asked her genuinely. “You’re really tense.”

Lana sighed, chewed on her lip, and then took a deep breath before the words tumbled out. “The Shifter focused on Dean and I because I kissed him,” she said rather quickly. “Not the Shifter--I mean him too, I guess--but Dean. That’s why things are weird, okay? It has been a while since I focused on something other than the job, and I shouldn’t have done it, but I’ve been keeping it to myself for weeks. Don’t squeal…”

“I KNEW IT!” Lily told her, laughing and shaking her head. “I told Sam that something happened. Why all this ‘shouldn’t’ though?”

“Because sooner or later we get closer to...the demon...and everyone stops sweeping this under the rug. Dean and I don’t have time for this. Neither do you or Sam. You guys need us sharp,” Lana shrugged, looking at Lily when she reached out and put her hand over Lana’s on the wheel.

“You have to stop thinking that we’re going to make you leave,” Lily told her sincerely.

Lana took a deep breath. “I know I was an accident, I know it wasn’t my fault...but that doesn’t change that being half demon means something. It doesn’t change that there’s things that even I don’t know what that I can do, and sometimes I lie awake and I wonder what happens if he finds out. What if being with you guys is dangerous?”

“Lana? Breathe,” Lily whispered, shaking her head. “We are all connected for a reason. I truly believe that, and I don’t want you to go anywhere.”

“I don’t want to go anywhere,” Lana admitted softly, reaching up with her other hand to blot the tears forming in her eyes away. “Being alone made sense, but this is…”

Lily nodded, letting her know that she understood without Lana having to finish the sentence, and then she nodded again when they parked. Lana had what Sam had said in her mind, but she also wondered if mastering what she could do, would _help_ Lily in the long run...would help _all of them_. After all, the whole point was keeping each other safe, and maybe these abilities were actually gifts, even if they were demon given.

Or maybe that was Lana’s wish to feel good.

**Back at the Motel**  
“So, there were different symbols,” Sam explained as Dean sat at the table eating skittles. “Dude...hey…are you even listening to me?”

Dean nodded, and then he shook his head. “No. Sorry. I just really think this is a witch thing. Look here. Lily did a reverse something or other, and she found this next to some Latin.”

“That would usually mean a spell, yeah, but who would attack all of them?” Sam asked slowly. “Is it a Coven? Because if it is, that means we’re dealing with more than just a witch.”

“It means we’re dealing with multiple witches,” Dean agreed and then he shook his head. “Witches are   
gross, Dude. They’re always spewing their bodily functions everywhere, and cursing people just because they don’t like them. So then the question is, what did they do to piss these guys off?”

Sam sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “This feels like waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

Dean agreed with him there, but he sobered a moment. “You seem a little worried. Munchkin is going to be fine, you know? Lana would human shield her if she had to.”

“Trust me, I’m not worried about her being with Lana. Believe it or not, but I trust her,” Sam began, taking a breath. “Lily is just closer to this than I am. I might have visions, but she _feels everything_ , and I can’t help her with that. It’s something she has to carry on her own, all I can do is be there for her.”

It was hard to admit to Sam that he understood where he was coming from, but Dean really did get it. Sam wanted to shield Lily from all kinds of things, but in the end there were things that he just couldn’t shoulder for her. This was the life that they all led now, and something was bringing them all together. Lily and Sam were connected by all sorts of things--Lana would say fate--and even Lana joining them seemed like it was for the best. Like it was supposed to be, even if Dean had a harder time believing that stuff.

“If there is anyone that she can be with who will help, it’s Lanni,” Dean promised, straightening up when he’d realized he’d slipped and called her by a nickname. “Lana’s navigating through it with her.”

Sam smiled a little at the slip, but chose not to tease. “I know she is, but I’m also worried that Lana is likely to help her embrace it, instead of keep a tight lid on it.”

“I thought that you trusted her.”

“I do, but I also know she has to embrace herself as well.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because it’s the only way that any of us are going to be able to face what’s starting.”

**Back in the Alley**  
Lana showed Lily where the body had been stashed, and then she led Lily around the corner and down to another building. She pointed out where the blood stain was, and then let Lily handle the rest, because someone had fled, but Lana wasn’t convinced that this was the place they’d been killed either. Plus Lily had mentioned that Dean suspected witchcraft, and Lana knew better than anyone that witchcraft left trails.

“No one died here, I’m pretty sure,” Lily said while examining the blood Lana had pointed out, “It’s not as….grim as murder scenes usually are,” Lily tried her best to put into words how her feelings _felt_. It wasn’t like any movies or tv shows. Sam had his own shit to deal with but it wasn’t like hers so she had nothing to compare it to. 

“That’s what I figured,” Lana placed her hands on her hips, ‘Biggest question is ‘where’? And, if they didn’t die here...why move the body to such a public location?”

Lily realized how much Lana talked like Dean: it was the hunter in them. They were like jacked up detectives that didn’t have to answer to anyone.

“To be found but...what’s that get them?” Lily asked, retracing her steps again from one blood spatter to the next. 

“I don’t know but anything that wants to be found is usually not our friend,” Lana stated. 

Lily closed her eyes and focused. There was a lingering malignant energy that refused to vacate the area even now that the body was gone, “Yeah, I don’t think it's very nice,” Lily replied when she opened her eyes, “And I can’t prove it or anything but it didn’t take off on foot…no it...I don’t know… it disappeared or...flew? It’s like the feeling expands really fast into nothing…” 

“Interesting,” Lana took a pause, “Do you always have these feelings on cases?”

Lily nodded, “I think I just always have these feelings _period_. From what I can tell they attach most to energy. So yeah it’s like mood and emotions and stuff but if I focus hard enough it's deeper than that. That’s how I can usually tell if someone’s lying about a case or not. I’m not wrong very often.”

“Huh,” Lana muttered. They didn’t spend much time discussing Lily’s ability. Actually, they never discussed it other than when Lily herself brought up a feeling she was having or when she was overwhelmed by the energies around her, “One more point in the witches column I guess.”

“Do they actually fly on broomsticks?” Lily asked. Lana laughed, “Not that I’ve seen but they can be incredibly powerful and use magic for like everything.” 

“They have a really bad rep around here but so far they’ve only sounded really cool.” Lily offered.

“Just wait until you meet one,” Lana replied, “ _Nothing_ like _Hocus Pocus_.” 

Lily beamed, “Bummer.”

“Alright then,” Lana let out a sigh, “We should head back. Maybe the boys have found something more but I’m convinced it's witches.” 

“Well we don’t have to head right back… right?” Lily asked as they walked together to the Impala. 

“What?” Lana looked at Lily but the look on the other girl's face made Lana smile, “Why? What evil plan are you concocting?” She asked while unlocking the driver’s side door. 

**Supermarket Parking Lot**  
Lana and Lily sat atop the Impala’s hood eating Choco Tacos under a dim street lamp, “You know, this is the perfect end to an ‘ _I found a body_ ’ day,” Lana said, licking melted ice cream from her thumb. 

“Mmhm,” Lily nodded, trying to keep her dessert taco in one-ish piece so it didn’t drip all over the hood of Dean’s car. She wanted to make it to her next birthday. 

“So, tell me: before I came along — what were the boys like?” Lana asked. She knew Dean as a solo Hunter and she had known of the Winchester family for a long time… but she wondered what the brothers were like together, as hunters, with a novice tag-a-long. 

“Uhm….smelly,” Lily laughed, unable to help herself, “More serious than they are now. I mean, there used to be a lot of me waiting in motel rooms alone,” she sighed.

“Mm,” Lana responded while licking chocolate from her lips.

“What about you? What were hunts like before you stuck with us?” Lily asked. She could barely imagine how Dean lived before she and Sam climbed into his Impala and Lana seemed to have a similar story. 

“I tried to stick with my Mom when Annie went to college...sometimes Bobby. But yeah, sometimes it was just me. It was a lot more ‘Queen’ and a lot less truck stops,” she laughed.

Lily poised herself to ask another question but her head whipped around suddenly.

Lana tensed, “What is it?”

Lily slid off of the hood of the car, abandoning her wrapper and the last bite of her ice cream. She began looking around at the smattering of cars. 

She gasped. 

Lana got down, one hand pressing to the metal just inside her jacket lapel, “Lily, what’s wrong?”

“You see? The red pick-up,” Lily turned towards her as to not make a scene. Lana furtively glanced in that direction to see a man going off on a woman in his passenger seat. Suddenly, the man smacked the woman with him. 

Lily was visibly upset, “We have to do something.” 

“You’re right,” Lana replied, “Okay, just wait here and I’ll pay the sonuvabitch a visit.”

“No,” Lily fell into step beside her, “I want to get her out of that truck.”

Lana had a bad feeling but she couldn’t tell Lily ‘no’. She wouldn’t be like the boys and coddle her, “Okay, you go to the other side and prepare to catch her or pull her to safety if this goes south.”

Lily nodded and the girls surrounded the pick up.

Lana approached the driver’s side window, “Knock knock,” she said verbally while giving the driver’s window a couple knocks with her knuckle. 

“What the—“ the male driver rolled his window down, “What the fuck do you want?” 

“I think you should keep your hands off the lady, _friend_.” Lana said, her hand still ready to draw if necessary, “No one likes an asshole.”

“Excuse me? Fuck off!” The man cursed at her, rolling up his window and starting his car. 

Lily opened the passenger side door suddenly, “I can take you to safety,” she held out her hand for the terrified woman in the passenger seat. 

“The hell you will,” the man seethed, suddenly pointing his own gun straight at Lily, “Me and my girl here were minding our own business. No room for any other bitches in my life.”

“Alright, step out of the car,” Lana flashed her gun at the driver, “And drop your weapon.” 

“What are you? The cops?” He laughed, waving his gun between Lily and his girlfriend. 

“Actually, yeah. And you’re under arrest for being a huge dick.”

It felt just like his day to have run into some trouble, and Lana stepped closer when his finger moved like he was going to cock the gun. She didn’t have time to play these games, and honestly, she wasn’t upset about being seen as the ‘bad cop’, smashing her gun into his nose when he pointed it at Lily again. The commotion allowed Lily to get the girl safely out of the car, and Lana grabbed the other gun, motioning to the ground.

“Get...on...the ground…” Lana told him as he held his bleeding nose.

He got out of the truck and got on his knees, Lana motioning to Lily, who was already asking the girl to tell her what happened. In the middle of her story, the guy looked up at Lana and smirked, Lana about to say something else, when Latin rolled off his tongue and he pressed his bloody fingers against a mark he had made in the ground, that forced Lana backwards.

That caught Lily off guard and he ran, the girl sobbing as Lana got up and swore, taking off to try and track him down while Lily called the actual police. The young woman needed to make a statement, and Lily waited with her, Lana coming back because she hadn’t run him down. Blood spells were a little out of her norm, but she knew people she could call for that, and so she and Lily left the police to do their jobs and got back into the Impala, heading back to the boys.

“It is definitely witches,” Lily said as they came through the door.

Lana sighed as she took her jacket up and held up her hand when the boys both stood. “I need you both to calm down. We had a little run in, but it was nothing we couldn’t handle. I just need to…”

She sat herself down on the bed as Lily moved over to grab some of what Dean had been snacking on, and Dean watched Lana as she pulled her phone out and started sending off several texts. Lily was telling them about the blood and the incantation, trying to look the Latin that she remembered hearing up. Hearing that it was witches and then thinking about the fact that it was a ‘blood spell’, Dean suddenly looked relatively cranky.

“Who are you texting?” he asked firmly.

Lily looked at him. “That sounded a little rude…”

“My mother, Bobby...Annie,” Lana added, but she didn’t look up to meet Dean’s eyes. Her younger sister might not hunt, but she did have knowledge of witches under her belt.

“Are you also texting,” Dean held his fingers up to make quotes and his voice suddenly got very childish, “the ‘witch master’.”

Sam, Lily and Lana all looked at him, trying to figure out what in the world had gotten into him...well, Lana had an idea at least. Sometimes Sam and Lily forgot that Dean and Lana had a handful of hunts together under their belts over the last decade, but Lana and Dean also never talked about them. However, it was clear that _something_ had happened and it would help to figure out just _why_ the two butted heads so much.

“Wow…” Lana spoke up, shaking her head and raising her eyebrows. “It has been _five_ years.”

“You even still talk to him?” Dean asked, shaking his head. “Of course you do.”

Sam chewed on his lip and then spoke up as well. “I’m very, very lost.”

“Lance,” Dean answered with a shrug. “See, back in the day, Lana did a lot of hunts that were much more creature focused, or witch focused. Lots of covens actually, in the areas she frequented, with a certain ‘witch master’.”

“Oh, so _you’re_ going to tell the story?” Lana asked, standing up and pocketing her phone. “I’m dying to hear how you tell it. Really. Continue.”

Lily made a face. “Maybe we shouldn’t…”

As much as she wanted Lana and Dean to talk to each other, she didn’t really want to see them fight and she could tell it was about to get heated. Whatever had happened had really put Dean in a way with her, and maybe that was why he’d always complained about their hunts. Not because nothing good happened to them, but because it meant he didn’t have to actually delve into feelings. Lily knowing now that they’d kissed, however, meant that now jealousy leaked out of Dean when he didn’t want it to.

“You weren’t the one that got cornered, and told that he was ‘enabling your hunting’,” Dean told her, shaking his head. “He wanted to save you from all of it, but you’d rather ‘run to me’. He also made that hunt a lot harder than it had to be, so is his information really worth it?”

Lana paused, clearly thrown. “Why did neither of you tell me that?”

“Oh, Lance is an ex,” Lily nodded, sitting at the table with Dean and trying to figure out how to diffuse this. “She just asked for help--it isn’t like he’s coming. He’s not coming, is he?”

“I didn’t invite him,” Lana told them, putting her hands together and tapping her pointer fingers to her lips. “Are you seriously mad that I asked him for help? Just because he was a jerk to you? I literally only asked him for help because I’m not the know-all, be-all, of bloody spell work.”

Dean shook his head, knowing he was being obvious, but he was worked up now. “You know what? Do what you want, Lana.”

That said, he grabbed his jacket and walked out, slamming the motel room door, to which Lana went and opened it, holding up his keys as Lily and Sam both stood up. So, this had gotten out of hand really fast over seemingly nothing, and they needed more details than this.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” she called after him, holding her ground as he stood up close to her and they shot daggers at each other as he took the keys. “You’re seriously going on a drive right now?”

Dean leaned in close. “I need at least twenty minutes without you.”

“Take all the time you need, I’m getting another room,” she responded, glancing at his lips and then pursing her lips together when he turned on his heel, Lana slamming the door shut in her frustration and then stalking over to her duffel and fuming.

“Okay then,” Sam took a breath, putting his hands on his hips. “So, you two need a time out.”

“I need to call Bobby,” Lana told him, heading out the motel room door to avoid this.

Lily turned to Sam and nodded. “So, they need to bang this out like yesterday.”

Sam could not help but laugh; it was endearing the way Lily loved Lana and Dean and wanted to see them together. Even logical-smarts-first Sam could feel the tension and see that _something_ had to give.

“You know what…” Lily slipped from the bed and shuffled to the door. She locked the motel room deadbolt before employing the chain. 

Sam gave another laugh, “What are you doing?” he asked. 

“They want to act like big ol’ babies about their feelings? Well they can stay out there until they’ve hashed it out.”

“I thought you wanted them to bang,” Sam returned smartly, taking her under his arm as she slipped back onto the bed. 

“Dean has the keys to the Impala…” Lily returned, bringing Sam’s laptop up to them again, “I feel like a movie,” she clicked away from his pages of research and into a different folder. 

Sam could only kiss the side of her head. The woman he has chosen to love was really something.


	8. No Longer Holding Back

**Outside the Motel Room**  
Lana called Bobby but he didn’t answer. Lana left a message, grumbling about how she could be dead in a ditch somewhere but when a pang of guilt hit her she calmed down and told Bobby they were probably dealing with a witch and she needed some advice. 

Lance was texting her now, questions about the case: where did it happen, how many victims did they have, etc. He said he was going to check into the corresponding moon phases but Lana could not handle him right now so she shoved her phone into her pocket and let it buzz away unanswered. 

She resigned herself to sitting on a bench two doors down under a flickering yellowed fluorescent. The vending machines down to her left hummed along with the crickets. It was getting colder and her jacket would soon not be enough but she was too stubborn to go inside just yet. 

Then the familiar roar of an engine grabbed her attention as the Impala returned to its rightful parking spot in front of their door. Dean hadn’t noticed her yet. He stepped out of his Impala, seemingly muttering to himself, as he grabbed a six pack from the floorboards of the backseat. When he reached the sidewalk he noticed her. 

There was a long moment. The two just looked at each other; both too stubborn to be the first to speak. 

And Dean would not break. He stepped forward to the room door but it didn’t open. He took a step back to reassess the number but he knew was correct. He tried again. Locked. He gave two solid knocks on the door, annoyed that his dramatic exit had been ruined.

Lana shoved her hands into her pockets, realizing she also did not have a room key — not that she would’ve given it to him in the first place. However, her attention moved back to Dean when he had to knock on the door again, “Sam! Lily!” he exclaimed. 

Suddenly, Lana stood in surprise when one of the curtains swept away from the window and Lily appeared to speak to Dean, “Have you sorted it out?” she asked just like a sister would.

Dean held up his six pack.

Lily gave him a look, “I mean with Lana. This room is too small and this case could be too dangerous for you two to be all weird about everything. So Sam and I are going to watch a movie and you two can figure it out!” 

Dean had stepped to the window, “C’mon, Munchkin not tonight. I ain’t got nothing to say to her…”

Lana could not pretend she wasn’t there anymore.

“Of course you don’t,” she stepped up to join the conversation. 

Lily looked from one to the other, “Maybe you should. It’s supposed to get really cold tonight.” Then Lily drew the curtains shut. 

Dean knocked on the window furiously, “Oh come on! Lily! SAM!” 

A faint “Sorry, Dean!” sounded from Sam somewhere deep in the room. 

Lana crossed her arms over her chest, “Keep yelling and you’re going to get us kicked out of here completely.”

“Yeah, well, at least that would make them open the door,” Dean grumbled, moving past her to set the beer on the bench and crack on open. 

“Or someone in one of these equally luxurious rooms calls the police and you get taken into FBI custody,” she said smartly. She might be mad at him but they really didn’t need the cops. 

Dean gave her a look because she was right and that annoyed him so he just sipped his beer. 

A long moment of silence fell between them and once again neither of them wanted to break and be the first to speak. The only noise became someone tending to the ice machine at the vending bank. 

Lana wrapped her arms tightly around herself as the chill set in. She would sleep in the Impala if that’s what it took — she was serious about being able to take Dean if she needed to get his keys. 

Then Lana realized something strange. She looked down to the bank of vending machines and the man getting ice had stopped moving. He was still busied within the ice machine but he was oddly still. Lana was overtaken by a grip of ice cold recognition. 

“Dean—“ she managed but that was all she could say. The man at the vending machine turned around and his eyes were as black as night and he was smiling: the man from the parking lot. 

Dean, who hadn’t realized their predicament, “Yeah, what?” he asked grumpily with his beer. 

Lana quickly drew her gun from her waistband and that got Dean’s attention, “Sonuvabitch!” he exclaimed, hopping up from his seat and abandoning his beer to roll across the pavement. He drew the large knife from his waistband. 

“Remember that blood spell I was telling you about?” Lana muttered lowly as the black-eyed thing approached, still carrying his bucket. 

Lana didn’t want to have to shoot and draw that sort of attention this way but she may not have a choice, “Stop!” Lana exclaimed, shoulder-to-shoulder with Dean. She did a quick scan and the Impala was the only car in the parking lot. Maybe they were lucky and they were the only patrons tonight but Lana never got that lucky. 

Surprisingly the man stopped, although he was speaking something under his breath. 

“What’s he saying?” Dean muttered to Lana but Lana couldn’t tell, “I don’t know!” 

“Hey! Bitch! Why don’t you say that to my face!” Dean taunted, knowing someone had to make a move or this standoff could last forever. 

The thing began to laugh — a spine-chilling sound. But Lana and Dean had no time to process it because it tossed the contents of the bucket at them. Dean and Lana split apart quickly and without thinking Lana squeezed her trigger. One bullet straight to the heart dropped the man and everything went quiet.

“Oh my god…” Lana clamped her hand to her mouth. 

Out of the bucket, rolling across the pavement was the head of the woman they had saved in the parking lot. 

The motel room door ripped open, “I heard a shot!” Sam came out, armed and alert.

"Stay inside," Lana said quickly, moving to the head as Dean moved to the man.

The black eyes would have made her think this was a demon situation, except that witches got their power from demons...but the black eyes. It was a spell, and it was heavy duty, and without someone answering her, they were at a standstill. At the same time, there were a few more things that they could do tonight if Lily was still insisting that they talk.

"Is that?" Lily asked as she came to the door, shaking her head when she saw the head. "No…"

"This is messed up," Lana sighed, shaking her head and putting the head back in the bucket.

There was no indication of demonic possession, but it meant that there was more than just this happening. Dean needed to not get involved with anything involving cops, but he wanted to take Lana to get the head dropped off with the cops since she was volunteering to go. Then Lana wanted to try her hand at a tracing spell to see what kind of tracks the guy had covered.

Dean picked the body up and moved it so no one coming out of the motel would see it, and Lana made a face. Neither she nor Dean wanted this damn thing in the car, but they were going to have to figure it out.

"What’s in the box?" Lana asked when Dean moved to her, and even though he was mad at her, he smiled a little bit.

Sam took a breath. "You two stay here. Lily and I can take the head to keep Dean from the cops and just in case someone else comes for the body…"

That actually made the most sense, so Lana nodded at the new plan, Dean grabbing his six pack and then handing Sam the keys. He didn't make a scene either, which everyone was expecting because they were mad. Lily wanted them to work it out, so leaving them alone seemed like the best way to do that.

Once Lily and Sam had taken off with the head, Lana and Dean went into the motel room, not speaking. He was glad she was okay, and vice versa, but she wanted to find a tracing spell and see if they could track a Coven down. Everything about this screamed that it was a message to Lana and Lily for interfering, but that made Lana worry that they were next.

"Did you see anything on the body worth...thank you," Lana said, seeing Dean open up his hand to give her a ring he pulled off of the guy. Her fingertips brushed the palm of his hand and they stood there for a minute, before Lana pulled her hand back and cracked open an old Latin book she carried. "We should be able to get something from this."

Dean nodded, watching her for a moment before the question tumbled out. "Do you talk to him regularly?"

"Dean, I don't just catch up with the guy who asked me to marry him, who I turned down…" she told him, shaking her head. "Seriously, what is the real problem? When we need help, we have contacts for just that. So why did you slam the door?"

"Because I don't want to see him," Dean explained, shrugging his shoulders. "The three of us weren't much of a team."

Lana laughed and nodded. "That's an understatement. We worked better together; he was just...annoyed the whole time. I know we can't focus on this right now, but can I tell you something?"

Dean nodded, but he was not at all expecting for Lana to kiss him. She had feelings and whether she wanted to deal with how complicated they were or not, she needed him to know that one thing. Lana wasn't trying to make him angry, she was trying to work and case, and he nodded when she pulled back, both of them sharing a look before she heard a knock on the door.

Opening it up, she found Lance standing there and she paused. "Lance...hi…"

Dean immediately tensed up. "Oh, so you just asked for help?"

"I was close," Lance told him, nodding slowly. "Did not realize you two were working on this together, but I suppose I'm not surprised."

" _And_ you didn't tell him I was here," Dean snapped his fingers and then shook his head. "I swear to God…"

Lana didn't want to deal with this right now, but she let Lance in, returning the hug and then handing him the ring. His witch knowledge exceeded her own and while he had invited himself, Dean was angry again and Lana just wanted to focus. So, she started telling him what was going on, hoping Sam and Lily weren't going to freak when they got back.

Sam and Lily rode in silence. It was unusual for her to see Sam driving the car. It only happened once in a blue moon — almost literally. 

“So…is this how it feels?” Lily asked, breaking their silence. Sam glanced at her from the road and back, “What?”

“To lose someone on a case,” Lily replied. She had pulled that woman out of harm’s way and left her with the cops… barely hours later her head was _literally_ at her doorstep. 

Sam took a deep breath, “Yeah,” he said, unable to beat around the bush, “Yeah, it sucks.” 

Lily nodded, busying herself with the dark landscape out the window. 

“Hey,” Sam reached out with his free hand and squeezed her leg, “I know it hurts but you can’t think this is your fault… you did the right thing.” 

Lily felt her lower lip quiver but she forced herself to tighten up, “Doesn’t feel that way, Sam. I just… we were in the parking lot and I felt it… I could feel her fear. I can still…” her voice cracked and it caused her to pause.

Sam sighed. He pulled the car just down the block from the police station and cut the lights and engine, “Lily,” he tried, “Lily look at me.”

Lily, her doe eyes filled with tears, finally met his. The look in her eyes crushed him and Sam had seen a _lot_ of shit in his life, “You’ve given up your life to save people. Sometimes it ends badly but that doesn’t undo all of the good you do **every day**. I mean,” he smiled, his fingers brushing some hair from her face, “I’m pretty sure you are the reason Dean and I haven’t killed each other and that’s something to be proud of.”

Lily let a sad little laugh go, “Well it’s a tough job but someone has to do it.” 

Sam smiled when she smiled. He leaned in and kissed her temple, his hand bracing her head so she could feel how much he loved her and her spirit. 

“Sam?” She sniffed, wiping the errant tears away.

“Yeah?”

“Can you take the head in? I don’t wanna carry the bucket.” 

Sam laughed, “Yeah. Just stay here,” he climbed out of the car. Carefully, Sam took care to wipe away all fingerprints. He threw the wallet of the dead guy into the bucket and left it on the doorstep and hurried away, careful to avoid any cameras. 

**The Motel Room**  
The intensity in the room could power utilities, Lana was sure. Dean had taken a dominant position in the room. He was nearly half way through his six pack in record time. 

Lance seemed unperturbed by Dean’s stares and was happy to work away at their little witch puzzle, “Are you sure his eyes were black?” he spoke.

“Positive,” Dean responded hardly. Lana took a deep breath before replying, “Uh, yeah, why?” 

Lance handed her his book, open to a certain page, “I’ve been looking through blood spells and its mentioned dark _red_ eyes as a possible side effect — sometimes the red is so dark it looks black.” 

Lana glanced at Dean, “Well he was under those really shitty fluorescents,” she offered.

Dean merely scoffed and noisily turned the page of the book he had open. 

Lana rolled her eyes and passed the book back to Lance, “Honestly, it’s possible.” 

Then the door opened and Sam and Lily returned. Sam passed the keys back to Dean before he reached for a beer. However, the look from Dean sent Sam’s hand recoiling as if he’d been bitten by a snake. Dean was not sharing tonight.

Lily looked at Lance to Lana and back, “So. Ex?” 

Lance nodded and gave a small shrug, “Yeah, uh, Lana’s friend. Lance,” he held out his hand. 

Lily shook his hand, looking over his features carefully. He was good looking, she’d give Lana that. But between blood spells, heads, and ex-boyfriends… there was way too much getting in the way of her plan to get Lana and Dean together. 

“Munchkin,” Dean said suddenly, drawing the attention of both Lance and Lily. Dean held up a small bag of Doritos and waved it, “Gotcha something.” 

Lily squealed in delight and rushed away from Lance to join Dean and his hoard of research on his bed, popping open the chip bag without delay. 

Lana narrowed her eyes. She saw what Dean was doing, he was so obvious. They’d shared another kiss, they’d been so close to having a meaningful moment and now Dean wouldn’t even look at her. Great. 

“Wow, that’s pretty good,” Sam had started looking over Lance’s research, “How’d you end up knowing so much about witches?” he asked. 

“That’s a good question, Sammy,” Dean looked up from his book, “How do you know so much, Ralph Maccio?” 

“Dean,” Lana shot warningly.

"It is a fair question, Lana," Dean shrugged, still avoiding eye contact.

It actually _was_ a fair question, but Lana knew the answer would just make Dean angrier. Not because of the actual answer, but because it would once again reiterate how much Lance knew about her. Sam and Lily weren't going to mind, but it also meant divulging a secret that Lance didn’t know.

"I mean...because of Lana," Lance answered, tip-toeing a little. "I don't know how much you know…"

Dean narrowed his eyes at Lance at those words. "I'd like to think more than you."

"Then why ask?" Lance asked him. "If you have to ask then you don't know. However, it was kind of a hobby. Learning as much about them as possible."

"My mother used to tell me that I could do things because my father was a witch and I didn't ask questions about power transfer to a child until I was older and wiser," Lana explained, looking at Lily with pleading eyes. She hadn't told Lance that she was half demon. "Lance had a crush so when he found out about the witch thing, he got knowledgeable."

Dean scoffed. "How _romantic_."

"You make it sound like you're not a witch," Lance said slowly, and Lana just waved it off.

"Look, we don't need to hash this out. Lance knows because he made it his place to know and he's a quick study," Lana said, looking at Dean. 

He barely glanced up at her, but he was aware that she hadn't told Lance what she had told them. It was a secret that could get her killed and she trusted him more than she trusted her ex. That meant something, but it didn't stop Dean from being annoyed that Lance was here.

"A tracing spell should get us a location on their source of power, which will be where they congregate, but you usually need demon blood, or blood from another Coven member," Lance explained, trying to figure out the vibe in the room.

Lana sighed and nodded. "We can use my blood."

"I'm not sure that is how it works," Lance told her with a smile.

"Witches get their powers from demons, right? I'll work as a fine substitute, it just won't be as strong. I assume you have the ingredients in your car?" she asked, nodding when he did. "Then let's get them."

He didn't know what he had stepped in, but Lance nodded and led the way out. Having a little one on one time with her even if they were just getting ingredients would be good because he could ask questions.

"Lance doesn't know," Lily said softly when the motel door closed behind them. "None of us get to spill her secret, got it? She trusted us."

Dean just grumbled, looking out the motel window even though Lily and Sam were watching him. "For someone who wanted to save her, he's very in this for her."

"You seem salty about that," Sam pointed out, holding his hands up when Dean shot him a look. "I'm just saying, you are very obvious."

"No one asked you," Dean told his brother, jumping when Lily smacked his arm. "OW!"

"You don't have to be a jerk. If you wanna change the situation, then change it, but don't be mean," Lily told him, shaking her head and sitting down while Dean continued to watch outside.

Lana wasn't feeling the most comfortable, but she grabbed some things as Lance read off the list. She could do this, then send him off, and maybe avoid all the questions. Oh, who was she kidding? Lance and Dean had a couple of things in common, and the jealous question asking was one of them.

"So...still with Dean?" Lance asked her, shaking his head. "I always wondered."

Lana blushed, but shook her head. "Dean hates me. I'm not sure if you've been paying attention."

"No, _you_ haven't been paying attention. He wants me gone and he is avoiding you," Lance explained, shaking his head. "He also clearly knows more about you than I thought I did. Anything you wanna divulge?"

"I just want to make sure no one else dies," Lana told him, shaking her head. "Then maybe I should see if Bobby needs a partner."

"I mean...you could quit," Lance offered, nodding when she shot him a look as he locked up his car. "Okay, okay--forget I said it."

Nodding, Lana took the things inside with him, and got them together. Then she grabbed a silver knife and said an incantation as she spilled her blood over the bowl, a faint glow appearing. Tracing never really got boring: there were always pretty lights.

"At least it seems like it's working," Lana said with a smile. "So, who wants to go witch hunting with me?"

“Me!” Lily exclaimed, hopping off of the bed to find her shoes, “It’s gotta be better than giving a decapitated head to the police,” she said.

“A - _what_?” Lance asked, realizing he’d clearly missed something. 

“Nothing for you to worry about, Witch Boy,” Dean replied. He was barely affected by the six beers he had slammed. He put on his favorite leather jacket, “I’m driving. Too many people driving my car today.” 

“Fine by me,” Lana grumbled, getting her gear together. Witches were complicated but they could not keep terrorizing the Santa Fe area and dumping bodies like they owned the place even if that meant she had to get into a car tonight with Dean Winchester.

Lance collected his things, “We should be careful. It’s possible they could be tipped off by your tracing spell but there’s really no way to know for sure,” he said, closing up his backpack. 

“Gee, helpful,” Dean grumbled, first out the door to his Impala, “Sammy let’s go!” He called from the parking lot. 

Sam looked between all of them with a sigh as he shouldered on his jacket before he exited the motel room with Lily. 

Lana and Lance paused, “We could always take my car,” Lance offered, “Seems like that old thing might be a little crowded.”

Lana shook her head, “That would just make it worse, trust me,” she led him out of the room. Sam climbed into the passenger seat, knowing he had to separate Dean and Lana for now. 

Lana opened the backdoor and slipped in on the passenger side. However, her hip crashed into Lily’s who slid in from the opposite side, “Woah!” Lana exclaimed in surprise. 

Lily smiled, “Middle seat usually goes to the shortest,” she shrugged. Awkwardly, Lance went around the car and climbed into the seat behind Dean. 

Sam glanced over his shoulder, “I thought you said that sitting there infringed on your rights as a short person,” he laughed. 

Lily gave him a stern look. “Sam,” she and Dean said in unison. Sam turned to face front and held his tongue. The Impala pulled from the parking lot and Sam used the map to help guide Dean to the point that Lana had discovered with her little spell.

“It’s okay, you know,” Lance leaned over and muttered to Lily. 

“What?” Lily looked at him. He really was good looking; it was a shame she had to shun him on principal. 

“I know you’re just protecting Lana,” he said, “I’m glad to see she has someone like you.” 

Lily took pause. Well that didn’t sound so bad. However, she caught eyes with Dean in his rear view mirror and she knew she had to stand her ground, “Thanks,” Lily mumbled. Uncomfortable with her predicament, Lily spoke up again. “So, what sort of weapons are we taking in?”

“Firepower,” Dean replied staunchly. 

“Something with a quick draw,” Lana added. 

“We have strength in numbers, which helps,” Lance added, “They’re less likely to try and slaughter a whole group where they congregate. It’s bad blood and it could draw unwanted attention. Could give us an upper hand.” 

Sam watched Dean’s knuckles go white on the steering wheel but the car fell silent and Sam was thankful. Finally, Dean pulled over down a side road and turned off the car. It was a two block walk to the old Victorian where the witches were gathered.

The car emptied. Dean popped his trunk and revealed the array of weapons stealthily stashed in the back. He passed Sam a sawed off. Lana checked the load on her hand gun and Dean passed her a handful of appropriate ammo.

Lily held out her hand but immediately Sam spoke, “Uh, Lily… I was thinking maybe you could stay here on this one…”

Lily spun around towards him, “ _What_!?” 

“Witches are powerful and really manipulative,” Sam explained, “This is a whole different kind of ball game from ghosts and demons.”

“Yeah, but you heard Lance — we have strength in numbers!” Lily replied.

Lana knew Lily could handle herself but she couldn’t help but think that sending an unstable-psychic girl into a coven’s den was a bad call, “Lil’, he might be right.” 

Lily felt betrayed. She looked to Dean for support but he avoided eye contact with her. Dean was her protector but Lily could be a formidable force when she wanted. 

“ _Fine_ ,” Lily snapped, “Maybe I’ll just go ahead and join the coven… betcha _they’d_ let me do things.” She held out her hand expectantly. 

Dean passed her the keys, “Watch my girl,” he spoke of his car.

Lily didn’t respond. She got back into the car and slammed the passenger door as hard as she could muster. She put the key in the ignition so she could listen to music.

Lance let out a breath, “It’s a good call.”

“No one asked you,” Dean slammed his trunk shut and cocked his gun, “Just — don’t get in the way.” He led the way down the block.

Lana bit her lip but was forced to follow as the group headed away from the car and towards the darkened home, “Why do I suddenly feel like Gretel following bread crumbs?”

“Probably not too far off,” Dean replied. He was so job-focused he didn’t realize he had responded to her plainly. For a split second their feud was nonexistent, “Let’s hope there’s no human-sized ovens.”

His joke made her smile, but she wiped it off of her face to get ready to go in. If they were going to deal with witches, then they had to have their full wits about them, and they were going to have to split up.

"Witches means powers, and since their powers come from demons, they can hold you to a wall. You gotta catch them off guard and don't let them finish spells." Lance explained. "We should split up a little, otherwise we are easy to pick off."

Lana nodded in agreement. "I'll take the back."

"I'll go with you," Dean said, much to everyone else's surprise, but annoyed or not, he wasn't going to let Lance try to offer the same.

Surprisingly, he didn't.

"I'll go through the front door if Sam wants to take the side…" Lance offered, nodding when Sam did. "If anything happens, shoot first, ask later."

The plan hammered out, everyone moved to where they needed to, Lance opening up the front door slowly and checking around to figure out how many were in there. Sam did the Sam, getting his langy self through a window, momentarily wondering Lily would have fit so much better. Lana and Dean had the back, Lana keeping her distance while Dean proceeded to still not talk...how efficient.

"Just wanted to watch my ass?" Lana asked, trying not to smile when he scoffed.

"You mean your _back_ ," he pointed out.

Lana shook her head. "No, I meant my ass."

Dean wished he wasn't smirking right now, but when he saw the back door start to open, he tugged Lana back, keeping her close as the door opened. Then, Lana said a quick incantation, the witch caught off guard. Her eyes went a dark red as she lifted her hands, but Lana was somewhat connected, her blood in the spell, and she moved forward to gag the woman.

Moving to help, Dean stayed close, both of them hearing a loud sound down the hall. Lance had gotten himself pinned to a wall, and with Lana holding a squirming witch, that meant Sam and _Dean_ had to shoot. Sam got a shot off first and then Dean, two witches going down, but there were at least three left.

An altar was on the far side of the room with pictures on it, Lana recognizing one as the woman from the parking lot. So this was definitely them picking people off, but _why_? Witches didn't usually just attack people because they felt like it, because that drew unwanted hunter attention to them.

"So you're the folks that did the spell," a woman drawled, smirking when she used a hand to pin Dean. "I can...ah. You."

She looked directly at Lana because even though the glow was mostly gone, her blood had in fact cemented the spell. Something also told her, that no one in this room could escape, or something bad could happen to the people that she loved the most. That, and Lana would have to admit things she didn't want to.

"At first, I tried to place you, but you're no member of this Coven, nor are you a demon," the woman continued as one of her other witches pinned Sam. "A tracing spell...your blood is special."

Lana took a breath. "Why are you attacking these people?"

"Trying to hide from them? Is that it?" she asked them.

"Were they sacrifices? The symbols were different," Lance pointed out, trying to help Lana stall.

The leader laughed, and the sound that came out seemed almost tainted, like the other guy. What was even going on here? How did they have this much power without heavily selling their souls? Were they in over their heads? They almost needed Lily.

"Certain people have certain things we need," she decided to say, motioning her head to the third. "How about we play a little game?"

Shaking her head, Lana cocked her gun. "No thank you."

With that, Lana shot the leader in the shoulder, which slackened her hold on Dean. That gave him the ability to shoot at the one holding Sam--oh, of course--and the one Lana held, elbowed her in the nose, making Lana stumbled, blood leaking out.

Lance started to chant some Latin, Sam joining in, Lana and Dean wishing they'd paid more attention in Latin class. That only made the witches chant, Lana feeling a searing pain in her head that made her drop to her knees. Dean went for the leader, but was knocked away, him having to reach for the knife at his ankle to throw it.

He got a lucky shot, the knife hitting one of the other witches in the eye, her scream of agony enough to slacken the hold on Lance, who shot the witch with the knife in her eye: put her out of her misery. Three witches left, still chanting, Sam shot another, and Lana started to scream as she held her head, Dean landing the final shot right between the leader's eyes, leaving one witch left.

That meant no more spell, as the last witch started begging them to wait, but what was the motive? Lana wanted a motive, but she could feel blood leaking out of her nose and Dean wanted to move to her, but he was instead putting his gun to the witch's head as Lance went over to her.

"What did you do to her?" Dean asked the witch.

"She was connected to the tracing spell," she told him, shaking her head. "We were trying to make her hemorrhage. You spoiled the whole thing--someone has to pay the blood sacrifice. She would have been perfect."

Dean shook his head. "You can't have her."

That was all he said before he pulled the trigger, Sam shaking his head and moving to the altar. Lance was cradling Lana’s head and wiping blood from her eyes, as Lily came running in and Dean turned to see the sight. That was what he had wanted to do, and instead, he was following Sam to the altar, stopping when he saw Lily.

"Munchkin, you were supposed to wait," Dean told her, Lily catching Sam’s look.

She gave him a 'sorry' smile and moved to Lana, Lance moving for her. "I heard Lana scream and a lot of commotion. I couldn't stay put."

"They realized it was her blood in the spell, which...means there's a demonic thing someone isn't saying," Lance started, but he stopped when Dean spoke up.

"How about you come tell us what this means," Dean said, motioning to the altar.

Sam nodded too. "I mean, they're clearly sacrifices. For what?"

"Power," Lance explained as he looked over the offerings and Lana rested her throbbing head against Lily’s shoulder. "The symbols, the blood spells--they were promising souls. This is some dark stuff."

Sam nodded slowly. "I say we burn it. All of it."

"We have enough to set a whole house on fire," Dean nodded slowly.

"First, go through the house and see if there are any bones and salt them for good measure. You never know what they're trying to control for a demon," Lana offered, wincing. "Can we go back to the car, Lily?”

Lily nodded. At least she felt some purpose in helping Lana and she did have the keys. She helped Lana to her feet and was the perfect height to help her crutch out the open front door. Lily glanced around at the carnage as they exited, “Guess I’m not becoming a witch today.”

Despite her pain, Lana gave a breathy laugh, “Don’t even,” she teased. 

The three men, despite Dean’s intense dislike of Lance, were able to work together to clear the house, pile all the bodies and body parts into one room to salt and burn. 

When Lily and Lana reached the Impala, Lily helped Lana into the passenger’s seat, “Do we need to go to the hospital? I have the keys, the boys can figure it out.”

“No,” Lana sighed, “Just need some strong aspirin and maybe a drink,” She smirked, “No real damage, just a crazy migraine.” She pressed her hand to her forehead to try and relieve the pressure.

Lily smiled a little, “I’m glad you’re okay,” she said as her guard came back down and she knew that this case was coming to an end with everyone in one piece.

Lana’s eyes opened again. For a moment, Lana wondered how often she had ever heard someone (that wasn’t her own mother) actively happy for her safety and well-being. Lana side-eyed the girl, “Sam marry you yet?”

Lily was taken aback by the out-of-place question, “No,” Lily laughed, “You know…our place burning down then hopping into the world’s craziest family road trip kind of put a wrench in the plans.”

“Mm,” Lana ran her tongue over her teeth, “Yeah, I’m gonna have to talk to that man.”

Lily looked up when she heard quick footsteps coming their way.

“In the car, Munchkin, time to go!” Dean called.

Lily realized she could smell smoke: the deed was done. With haste, the group clamored back into the car and Dean returned them to the motel. 

There was a great sense of relief when the car turned off and everyone climbed into the parking lot. 

“Hey, uh,” Lance started, stopping Lana in her tracks, “I’m going to head out.” He nodded his head towards his own car.

“Oh, uh, yeah,” Lana managed. 

Sam and Lily moved themselves into the room, knowing this was better left for the couple. 

Surprisingly, Dean spoke, “Sure you don’t want to come in for a beer?” he asked, “Ganking a coven of witches…that’s a pretty solid night.”

Dean may hate his guts for even _looking_ at Lana but between his wit and his quick thinking and his courage that helped them take down an entire blood-thirsty coven? Well that earned you some stripes in Dean Winchester’s book.

Lance gave Dean an understanding half-smile, “Thanks but I think I’m just going to go back to my own bed and sleep for a couple days.”

Dean smiled knowingly, “Yeah, alright…” 

Lana held her tongue, careful not to comment and ruin the first peaceful moment, “You sure?” she confirmed with Lance, “It’s a tight squeeze but you don’t have to leave.”

Lance placed his hands on Lana’s arms and squeezed gently, “Yeah. I’m sure,” he said. He leaned in and kissed Lana’s forehead, “Don’t be afraid to call next time you run into some witches…”

Lana smiled, “Yeah, alright,” she responded.

Lance gave a laugh.

“What?” Lana missed the joke.

“Nothing, nothing… I mean, if it can’t be me… he’s not too bad,” Lance shrugged before giving Lana a last little wave and climbing into his hybrid car. When he kicked the engine to life it barely made a sound. 

Lana waited and watched until Lance’s car was long out of sight. 

“Is it just me or do you need a drink as bad as I do?” Dean’s voice sounded from behind her.

Lana jumped, “You? Pretty sure they were in _my_ head. Is it just me or do you need a drink just as bad as _I_ do?” 

**In the Motel Room**  
Sam had already managed to dress in some sort of lounge wear and clear their bed of all research materials. With a contented sigh he laid out atop the bed, his arm hanging off, “Lily…” he started. 

Lily was standing by the window, holding the curtains close together but peeping out with one eye, “Shh!” 

Sam was blown away that she was not more than exhausted. Sam was often left carrying her to bed from the car on more than one case. He sighed and rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling. 

“Ah!” he exclaimed when suddenly Lily’s face hovered over him. _How had she crept over so quietly_?! 

“I think they’re leaving together,” Lily smiled, before kissing the tip of Sam’s nose. 

“Lance and Lana?” Sam asked in great confusion.

“No. If that were the case I’d be laying down in the parking lot in front of their car,” Lily replied simply. 

Sam nodded because she was right, he was obviously the silly one, “Alright. Well good. But come to bed. It’s nearly morning.” 

“I want to stay up until they get back,” Lily said, sitting down next to him. Sam smiled. He knew that’s what she wanted but he also knew that (despite how amped she was now) that Lily would pass the hell out very soon. 

“I know,” he replied, running a hand through her hair, 

Lily sighed and rested her back against the headboard, pulling Sam’s head into her lap so she could play with his hair. 

However, Sam’s assumption had been correct. It was barely 20 minutes before the girl had fallen asleep sitting up. 

**At the Bar**  
Lana was pretty sure she had never had beer that had tasted so good. The beer on top of six super strength aspirin -- she would be riding high for a little while.

“So…” Dean started, “How does a girl like you end up with a guy that drives a _hybrid_?” he asked with distaste on the last word in particular.

Lana rolled her eyes. "Sometimes a girl needs a little different. Besides, a man's car is no testament to how he is--"

"--that's good," Dean cut her off, not wanting to know how she was going to finish that sentence. "You know...I wouldn't have let anything happen to you if I could have prevented it."

"I know," she smiled gently, shaking her head. "But we might have to think long and hard about my being here. You and me and whatever we are doing affects Lily and Sam. On top of that, someone is eventually going to find out I'm half demon and then all three of you are in trouble."

This wasn't the conversation that he wanted to have here, but he reached out upon instinct and cupped her face, giving her a soft smile. Without Lance, he was still somewhat jealous, but they had to work this out because of Sam and Lily. They needed to talk, and she leaned into his hand, realizing in this moment that being close to Dean like this was easy. Why was that?

"We do need to talk. You're a distraction, but I think I'd be a lot angrier if you were gone," Dean admitted, shaking his head and running his thumb along her jaw. "We're a unit."

"You're going to make me think you like me, you know?" Lana told him, laughing up until he gave a nod. "Oh, so this macho thing, getting uppity about the ex was because you think I'm pretty."

She was batting her eyelashes now, clearly enjoying this little game she was playing with him, and Dean couldn’t say he didn’t like it too. There was just something about realizing how close she’d let him be, and he was glad she hadn’t actually invited Lance along. Making him upset honestly wasn’t what she had been _trying_ to do, and Dean just wanted to move past this and figure out where they went next.

Dean rolled his eyes, but he was smiling and his look fell upon her face again. "I think we both know that you're beautiful."

The compliment made her blush, and she wanted to say something cheeky, but she also knew that this was supposed to be serious. If she goofed off too much with it, so would he and this was important. This was just them even though it was in a bar with people in it, some of which had looked over a time or two and realized they were here together. So far no one had felt brave enough to try and make a move on either of them.

"So, 'could fit her ass on a nickel over there'," Lana said, motioning her head and watching Dean glance over. "Nothing for you?"

Dean chuckled at her, shaking his head and looking back at her. "I think I have the hottest date around here so…"

Lana smiled when he shrugged. "This is a date then, huh? I don't feel that we've played pool or flirted enough for that...but you are still holding my face."

"I know," Dean assured her, and then he leaned in, making eye contact with Lana before he kissed her.

This time, she had expected the kiss, but she hadn't expected to melt into it. It would be interesting to navigate through two couples, but honestly, she preferred this to fighting, and her fingers found their way into his hair.

"We should most definitely alleviate my headache in a more natural way," Lana whispered when their lips parted, her eyebrows wiggling. "You think your car can handle that?"

Dean gave her a look. "She can handle anything."

Nodding, Lana took his hand and after he threw some bills on the bar, they headed out to the backseat of his car. It wasn't the most romantic place, but it was his baby and she was glad that she was important enough that he was letting her be in the backseat with him. Besides, needy kisses and dirty jokes, was the place they felt the most normal with each other.


	9. Facing the Past

**Back at the Motel**  
Sam had gotten Lily tucked into bed fairly easily, and then had conked out himself for a bit before his eyes fluttered open and the other half of the motel room was still empty. He didn’t have any idea where they were, but he wondered briefly where the two were. They had been at each other’s throats a lot lately, and he wasn’t even completely convinced that they were still together. Regardless of obvious feelings, it was possible that they could have just been wingmen for each other to get things out of their system.

Reaching for his phone, Sam decided to text his brother:

**Sam:** Where are you?  
 **Dean:** Still out, clearly.  
 **Sam:** You’re a smartass.  
 **Dean:** Don’t worry, I’m fine.

Sam figured he should just let it go, especially since Dean didn’t like having his little brother check up on him, but he was worried. He could have done anything and gone anywhere, and even if Lana usually kept him in line, they were both clearly agitated before the hunt hadn’t helped. At the same time, he wanted to be optimistic like Lily, but really no one had her optimism. Not really.

Next he texted Lana just in case:

**Sam:** You didn’t leave did you?  
 **Lana:** Thought about it, but no. How’d you know?  
 **Sam:** Just the look in the car.  
 **Lana:** I’ve been convinced to stay.  
 **Sam:** I’m not surprised.  
 **Lana:** Back soon--don’t worry.

He wasn’t even sure if the two were still together, but he was too tired to argue. At least they were texting him back and really, that was the best that he could hope for right now.

**In the Back of the Impala**  
After a couple rounds of getting to know each other better, Dean had found his way back into his pants, Lana in her underwear and wearing his leather jacket. He had now twice told her she had to put clothes on because he liked the look too much, but she wasn’t ready yet. She was enjoying spending time with him that wasn’t arguing.

“You know he wants to ask,” Lana told Dean as she turned her phone screen off. “I’m surprised Lily hasn’t frantically asked what we were doing.”

Dean laughed and shrugged. “To which you would want to respond ‘each other’, but...do we have to tell them?”

“Why wouldn’t we tell them?” Lana asked him slowly. “Unless you really hated everything I just did for you.”

“No! No, not that, just...Lily won’t let me live this down,” Dean told her, running fingers through her hair.

Lana gave him a look. “I mean...that’s what a yenta does…”

He looked at her like he had no idea what she was talking about, to which she had to explain her ‘ _Fiddler on the Roof_ ’ matchmaker comparison. It wasn’t as funny to him as it was to her, but she just laughed anyway and took a breath as she started to grab her other clothes from the floor of his car.

“I guess we should get dressed all the way. I’m sure at some point we’re going to be kicked out of this parking lot,” Lana laughed, glancing at him. “Though, it’s a good arrest story.”

Dean winked and then went for his shirt too. “I mean...it would be worth it.”

This felt nice, to talk to each other like this, and after they got dressed and kissed for a little longer, they had to get into the front seat and head back to the motel. Lily and Sam were both passed out, and Lana and Dean were very quiet as they made sure everything was locked up, and then Dean leaned in to whisper in Lana’s ear as she took her jacket off.

“Want me to warm up your feet?” Dean asked gently.

Lana’s eyes lit up. “Yes, please.”

It was going to bite them in the ass probably, to snuggle up together in the same bed when they avoided that position as much as possible, but for once, Dean was more than happy to let Lana slip her cold feet in between his own. This was a new beginning, but what would the dynamic be like now? Was he going to be more or less able to let her do what she needed to do? Would he be more or less annoyed when demon blood came up? He could figure it out later, because for now, he was enjoying actually sharing a bed.

\-----

Despite exhaustion and total comfort, Lana did not sleep much through the night. The moment was too special to miss, even if Dean snored through some of it. Before she knew it, dawn was breaking and Lana resigned herself for a run. She pried herself from Dean’s sleeping form to seek out her running clothes. She crept as carefully as she could but somewhere in her search she heard stirring.

“Good, you’re back,” Sam mumbled, barely moving from his position, “Didn’t think I’d get both of you back last night.” 

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Lana returned in a whisper, “I uh— I’m not going anywhere,” she replied before stepping into the bathroom to change. 

She was out the door soon later and Sam enjoyed a few more minutes of sleep before he resigned himself to being awake. He had always been an early riser and this job seemed to only make it worse. He pulled his phone over to him to flip through some news, some emails, one arm still beneath Lily as she slept. 

It was only when Lana returned, opening the door and allowing sunlight in, that Lily woke. She looked groggily at Lana who headed straight for a glass of water before glancing to Dean who was still fast asleep. 

“Don’t worry, we’re still here,” Lana told the girl, wondering if she and Sam had talked about them last night. 

“Why would I be worried? Where are you going? Oh my god, is it “we” now?” Lily’s train of thought streamlined quickly. She sat up and looked over at the second bed. Two messy pillows. _Two_. Lily’s head whipped back in Lana’s direction. 

Lana gave her a smirk, and raised her brows suggestively before speaking, “Gotta shower!” she grabbed her clothes and disappeared into the bathroom. 

Lily’s mouth hung open and she looked at Sam, “Oh my—did they—?” she asked. 

Sam gave a shrug, “I don’t know, but they came back together.” he said, smiling at her enthusiasm. 

“Why didn’t you wake me?” Lily asked Sam as if it were a serious offense. Sam could only laugh, “Do you know how dangerous it is to wake you? Like waking a cobra,” he rolled over, finally standing from the bed to find his clothes. 

Lily looked to the bathroom door, knowing the minute she could be alone with Lana she was going to need every.single.detail. of what had transpired the night before and Lily could only pray the details were _juicy_.

Dean was the last to wake and was only woken once Lana had showered and was packing up their stuff. 

“Gee, what’s the rush?” he asked, rubbing the back of his neck, “We got a case?”

“No, but it’s probably not safe to stay in this town after burning a whole house down,” Lana retorted. 

Dean’s bare legs swung over the edge of the bed. Don’t worry, he was a boxers kind of guy. 

“Lana’s right. We should rally and hit the road,” Sam interjected. 

“Yeah, and I mean while we get ready you could tell us how your night was last night…” Lily said, waving her tooth brush around. 

Dean pointed his index finger at Lily, “Nice try,” he shuffled to his duffle. 

Lana sized up his scantily clad ass: _not bad_. 

It wasn’t too long until the group managed to haul themselves into the Impala to put some distance between them and Santa Fe. Especially with Dean’s predicament, it was for the best. So Dean headed East. 

The car had been quiet for a while. Lana was skimming through her phone. Dean had zoned out on the road, so it took them a minute to notice Lily had poked her head between them with her chin resting on the back of the seat, looking between them.

“You know, Munchkin, that’s really creepy.” Dean muttered after being frightened by his discovery of her face so close to his own.

“Anything you two want to talk about?” Lily asked, glancing between the two.

“Nope,” Dean answered with particular emphasis on the ‘pe’. 

Lana smiled, “Oh c’mon Dean, you don’t want to tell Lily all about the bar?” Lana taunted. She would tell Lily all the things but she was smart enough not to do it in front of Dean. However, a little teasing never hurt anyone. 

“Not even a little,” Dean replied simply. 

“C’mon, please. Wherever we’re going it’s going to be like at least 500 more miles and I’m dying back here,” Lily pleaded. 

“Sam,” Dean glanced in his rearview, “Entertain your girl, she’s _dying_ and I’m not stopping at a hospital.” 

Sam laughed, “I’m not the one who shared a bed with Lana last night, Dean,” Sam said simply. 

“Shoulda left you two in Santa Fe.” Dean grumbled.

“Hey, I tried to join a coven but _someone_ left me in the car!” Lily accused. 

Lana laughed, “She has a point, you know.” 

“Fine. Next case we get, Lil, no matter what it is or how dangerous I’ll let you go in first, how’s that sound?” Dean teased.

“ _Dean_ ,” Sam was not amused.

“Great!” Lily replied, knowing that would never actually happen, but a girl could dream. 

“So where are we headed?” Lana asked, looking back out into the vast desert landscape. 

“We’re headed northeast. Gonna hit Oklahoma, Kansas…could even reach Missouri if we drive long enough.” Dean replied, happy to be on a different subject.

She smiled a little at his answer and then she took a deep breath. “Perhaps we should think about stopping at some place to eat in a couple of hours? Like to have actual food? I’ll be hungry soon for breakfast that we didn’t get because we had to flee.”

“You do need your coffee,” Dean smiled, feeling Lily’s eyes on him. “Keeps you tolerable.”

Lily smacked him in the shoulder as Lana rolled her eyes playfully, but she started to text Lily from the front seat. After all, she could lay some groundwork while she was in the car as long as they didn’t talk about the whole thing right now. She decided she was going to have to banter back as well, but Sam and Lily weren’t going to be fooled forever.

“It at least keeps me able to tolerate _you_ ,” Lana replied before she was texting Lily.

**Lana:** When we stop to eat, we need to talk in the bathroom.  
 **Lily:** So there IS something to tell.  
 **Lana:** I don’t know...maybe I hooked up with a really cute guy last night.  
 **Lily:** Like Dean?  
 **Lana:** I could have ended up with a Prince Eric look-alike.  
 **Lily:** Don’t play me like this.  
 **Lana:** You really want Dean and I to be together, don’t you?  
 **Lily:** Hey, you’re the one who said you were crushing on him.  
 **Lana:** I mean, yes.  
 **Lily:** AND YOU KISSED.  
 **Lana:** Yes we did.  
 **Lily:** Last night?  
 **Lana:** Have patience, Grasshopper.  
 **Lily:** You are mean.

Lana smiled, but pocketed her phone, reaching over to touch the radio, Dean not saying a thing as she put in an AC/DC cassette. Even Sam noticed, but he didn’t say anything, especially when Dean and Lana started to sing ‘ _Back in Black_ ’ together. Where was the bickering? Obviously something had happened, but they had to get it out of them before they’d know the truth about them sharing a bed.

Lily and Sam decided to let it go for now, everyone somewhat enjoying the next two hours in the car, but then Lana said she needed to pee, and Dean didn’t argue with her on that either. He just made a joke and looked for the next rest stop, and Lily’s eyebrows sprung right up. If Lily had done it, he’d have complained the whole time about having to stop, but now Lana needed to pee and he just stopped?

At least they were all at a diner now, Dean wanting to lean over and do literally anything affectionate with Lana, but he couldn’t, and instead he said he’d get them a table. Sam gave Lily a kiss when she took Lana’s hand, and then she practically dragged Lana into the bathroom. She had spent far too long in the car not getting any answers to any of her questions.

“Are you guys together now?” Lily asked Lana pointedly when they made it into the bathroom.

Lana laughed at how quick she was. “I don’t know.”

“What?” Lily asked, giving her a look.

That wasn’t what she had expected, but she supposed that Dean wouldn’t be so tight lipped if they had talked about anything. Then again, if they hadn’t talked about anything, then was anything happening? These two were the most stubborn people that she had met and what if it was a fluke? What if it was a one time thing?

“We didn’t talk about it,” Lana admitted, holding her finger up to tell Lily to hold that thought.

She actually did have to pee, and she took care of that while Lily tried to contemplate what to ask next, also taking a moment to pee. Then when she and Lana came out to wash her hands, Lily started to ask more because she really did want all of the details. Perhaps Dean didn’t want her to tell her because he’d never hear the end of it, but Lily was really her best friend.

“So did something happen? You slept in the same bed,” Lily pointed out to her.

Lana blushed a little and smiled. “He kept my feet warm and it was sweet.”

“Because…? Girl, you are giving me nothing,” Lily told her.

“Okay, okay,” Lana said as she dried her hands and then turned to look at her. “So, we went to the bar and were totally going to try and be wingmen for each other, but...we ended up taking care of my headache in the backseat of the Impala.”

“OH.MY.GOD!” Lily exclaimed, taking Lana’s hands. “So you guys--wait, but you’re not together?”

Lana shook her head. “I mean, we just haven’t talked about it. It was a spur of the moment thing, then it was twice, and then we found our understanding together, but I don’t know. We came back to the motel and then we decided to sleep in the same bed and…”

There wasn’t a whole lot else to tell, but Lana _did_ know that she and Dean still had things to talk about because she did want to know. Now that she had slept with him, and now that they had an understanding, she really should have thought that whole part through. Were they a couple? Did he want to be a couple? Was he just happy that he was getting things out of this?

“So there wasn’t a lot of talking?” Lily asked, but there was a tone in her voice and she wiggled her eyebrows.

Lana blushed and nodded a little. “I mean some, but no, not a lot.”

“Just took an ex boyfriend to really set him off his rocker,” Lily laughed, shaking her head. “Honestly? I almost locked you two in a room together.”

“I don’t know, we might have killed each other,” Lana told her, but she did end up laughing. “Though, you never know, maybe we’d have screamed things out that were eating away at us. All I know is things are a little bit different, and I have to make sure that I don’t end up getting you guys hurt.”

“Lana, you won’t,” Lily smiled, hugging her and nodding when Lana hugged her back.

Taking a breath, Lana nodded. “I just want us all to be safe, but I think that might mean coming clean to Bobby. At least my mother can give him a candy coated version, you know? Perhaps John should know too, I just feel like I want you all to choose whether or not you want to keep trusting me.”

“I’ve already chosen,” Lily said simply. 

Lana took a breath. She wanted to argue, to tell Lily she _didn’t know the whole story_ , to _give it time_ , but the look in Lily’s eye stopped Lana from saying any of that at all. “Alright, we should head out before they come looking for us.”

Lily laughed, “Yeah,” she exited the bathroom with Lana. 

It wasn’t hard to spot Sam and Dean even at a tucked away corner booth. The two giant (and good looking) men stuck out anywhere. 

“Ah—“ Lana started, watching as the waitress who came to deliver four coffees shamelessly flirt with Dean. 

“The nerve,” Lily breathed and the girls hurried the last few steps to the table. Lily was able to slip in between the waitress’ elbow and the table, giving the waitress a start. Sam’s arm draped over her and Lily looked up to the waitress, “Waffles.” 

Lana stood next to the waitress who glanced at her with a ‘can I help you?’ look. 

“You’re blocking my seat,” Lana said simply. The waitress shifted and Lana took her seat next to Dean.

“We were starting to worry about you two in there, weren’t we, Sammy?” Dean said. 

“Oh come on, Dean, you know girls have to go to the bathroom in packs.”

The waitress interrupted, “Anything other than waffles?”

“We need a minute,” Lana said simply without looking up from her menu. The waitress stalked off, dejected. 

“There was a line,” Lily explained with a smile that gave away her lie.

“Uh-huh,” Dean narrowed his eyes at her across the table. 

“Says here this diner has been here since before WWII,” Sam interjected with a historical fact, barely paying attention to the comical tension between the other three. 

Lily’s heart was warmed by his quirks and leaned up to kiss his cheek, “Do you think it's haunted?” she teased.

“God, I hope not.” Sam set his menu aside.

“I think breakfast is sacred,” Lana commented, “Can’t be haunted. _OH_!” 

Lily jumped and Lana’s outburst brought Sam to attention. 

“You okay?” he asked, raising a brow.

“Yeah,” Lana replied quickly, burying herself deeper into her menu, “They have bananas foster…that’s cool.”

But her ‘bananas foster’ was a lie. Sure, the diner did in fact serve it, but she was surprised because Dean had slid his hand onto her thigh and squeezed. It did not answer the many questions Lana had in her head but it obviously meant something. 

It wasn’t long before the waitress returned with a plate of waffles and everyone else put in their orders.

“Uhm,” Lily scooted her plate away from Dean’s wandering fork, “You had a whole hour while we were in the bathroom to make up your mind and you didn’t… that’s just not my problem.” 

“That’s cold,” Dean pointed his fork at her. 

Lana laughed and then got her own bite of Lily’s waffles, “Oh wow, these are delicious!” she exclaimed with a mouthful of waffle.

“Oh come on!” Dean moodily set his fork down. 

However, Dean was put out of his misery when the rest of their food was delivered a short time later. The table fell into silence, each one of them hungrier than they realized. Sometimes on their job, things like eating could get away from you.

Lana knew there was miles to go before she would even have the slightest chance to talk to Dean, so she was going to have to stew in her questions a little longer and a fully belly could help cushion that blow.

The group didn’t linger once they’d finished. It was back into the Impala and straight out of town for them. 

Somewhere into Oklahoma, Sam had fallen asleep in the quiet hum of the car. Everyone, now full and content, had fallen into their own thoughts. 

However, the relative peace was broken when Lily noticed Sam seemed to be in some distress. She put her hand on his chest and debated leaving him asleep but when a drop of sweat dripped from his brow down his face she couldn’t see him like that anymore, “Sam…” she muttered quietly, pressing against him, “Sam…”

With a start, Sam woke, getting the attention of everyone in the car. 

“You alright there, Sammy?” Dean asked warily with a glance back. 

“Uh…” Sam straightened himself up and wiped the sweat from his brow. 

Lily could sense the worry and fear that had manifested in Sam while he slept: that dream had been something serious. A vision perhaps? “What was it?” she asked quietly. 

“I think I know where we have to go next,” Sam said, “but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

“Try me,” Dean returned, knowing Sam would give him the information he needed.

“Uh - Lawrence,” Sam replied, shocking the entire car. 

Even Lana knew what that had to mean. The car was electric, everyone sitting on edge. Lawrence, Kansas was a loaded gun, a grenade with a weak pin… 

Sam withdrew their dad’s book from his jacket pocket and began flipping through without saying any more.

“Okay, random. Where’d that come from?” Dean asked his brother.

Swallowing, Sam pulled a picture of the old house out of the journal and then spoke. “This house...our old house...it was in one of my visions.”

“What happened in the vision?” Lana asked him slowly, catching the look on Dean’s face, and resting her hand on his thigh for a moment, giving it a comforting rub.

“I saw a woman pounding on a window,” Sam explained, shaking his head. “I know she is in a lot of danger.”

Lana nodded, taking a deep breath. “And a vision hasn’t been wrong?”

“No,” Lily answered for him. “If Sam says this woman is in danger, then this woman is in danger. We have to help her.”

Dean was pretty quiet even though it was clear that he was having a rough time and Lana knew exactly why. Lawrence was a hard subject for her too, but she still had her old house because Florence could never let it go. Florence was where someone important to her died, and Lana swallowed because she had a feeling that secrets that she knew might be coming out at any point now and things with Dean were new and delicate.

“Okay, so...we have to go,” Lana nodded, looking at Dean and pulling her hand away even though it was probably getting obvious already.

Dean took a breath. “I swore to myself I would never go back there.”

“I’m not surprised,” Lana nodded, wishing she’d stopped herself for a moment when she gently rubbed the back of Dean’s neck. “It was a traumatic experience for you, even though you were only four. The only real silver lining is we lived down the street…”

Everyone in the car but Dean glanced at her and she took her hand back, fiddling with her nails in her lap before she glanced back. There was some past there for her too, but it wasn’t the same as it was for Dean. When Mary died, she was an infant just like Sam was, but she had known plenty of people in the neighborhood after that part when she grew up, so she knew a lot more about the neighborhood and the people in than the Winchesters did.

“Lana did grow up in Lawrence,” Dean said slowly, shaking his head. “I just never thought I’d have to go back again to the house. The only time I ever came back was…”

Lana nodded slowly. “For me, I know. To console me over the death of a friend, but it wasn’t the same because you didn’t have to stay and you didn’t have to pass the house if you didn’t want to. From what it sounds like though? We have to go check it out. We can stay at my place, however, so we don’t have to worry about a hotel or anything. Mom keeps everything stocked up and if it isn’t, I can go shopping and get things. Plus you guys would have your own room to stay in and you won’t have to listen to this guy snore.”

Dean shot her a look, but Lily was pretty happy about it. Sam was still frazzled from his vision, but they all tried to calm themselves, because this was going to be kind of rough. Emotions everywhere, dealing without whatever was in the house, and Sam spoke up at some point as they drove, Lana started to feel fidgety too.

“Do you think it’s Yellow-Eyes?” Sam asked slowly. “I feel like my visions tend to lean in that direction…”

Lana swallowed and glanced out the passenger window. “I really hope not.”

**Lawrence, Kansas - An Hour Later**  
When they got into Lawrence, Dean knew his way back to Lana’s house, and she pulled her keys out of her pocket, fiddling with her house key for a moment before she opened the door up. Dean was trying to get back to feeling more comfortable, and Lana was happy when he spoke up to cut through the silence as they came up to the house.

“Last time I was here, I saw this really sad chick in a killer black dress,” Dean told her, wiggling his eyebrows when Lana looked back at him. “What? Jennifer’s cute.”

Lana rolled her eyes at the mention of her old friend. “Wow, you’re an ass.”

She was laughing though, and opened up the door to lead them into the entryway, taking her jacket off and hanging it up on the coat rack. There was a living room and a dining room and a kitchen, all rather old, but classic. It was obvious that Florence had taste, but it had also been a bit since someone had slept here, and Lana sighed when she saw the fridge.

“Okay, so we need some food, but Mom’s been here within the last month. She left the usual note to let me know everything is clean and all that jazz. That means her room has ammo and weapons if we need them. Down here there is a big guest room you guys can stay in, and a bathroom, and upstairs is Mom’s study, her room, which is the master, that we should avoid mostly, and then mine and Annie’s old rooms connected by a bathroom,” Lana explained, chewing on her lip. Annie hadn’t been home in years, mainly because she lived in an apartment at her college. “I guess Dean can borrow Annie’s room.”

Dean looked at her when she offered it, knowing quite well he was going to be spending his nights in Lana’s bed with her, but she wanted him to break the news to his brother. She thought she deserved him being excited about things, and maybe he wasn’t. Maybe she was reading into things when she shouldn’t be.

“Also, no making fun of my Backstreet Boys poster, okay? I just never had the heart to take them off of my wall ever,” Lana laughed, shaking her head. “Mom also has an alarm system.”

Sam nodded at that. “Saw the sign on the front lawn.”

“Which is always silly because people know what system to hack,” Lily pointed out.

“Oh, I know, which is why mother also has things warded off,” Lana explained, motioning to the house. “There are also salt bags in the basement, and more weapons and lots and lots of Devil Traps.”

It was clear that a hunter lived here, but a hunter that also had a life. Everything looked homey even though most things hadn’t been disturbed much, but there wasn’t dust on anything. Florence clearly cared enough about the house to keep it up to date, but that was because she had never found herself fully able to leave. Lana had never known why, but that was just how things had been.

“Your mother didn’t raise you the way John raised the boys, did she?” Lily asked, smiling at the family pictures on the hearth of the fireplace. “You had a home...is this your stepfather?”

Lana smiled and nodded. “Yeah, that’s Alan. He was killed by...my father...a few months after that was taken of all four of us. Mom keeps it dusted but never moves it. There are photo albums in the bookcase by the couch. Lots of embarrassing childhood pictures and Bobby with more hair. There’s also…”

She trailed off because she didn’t know if she could mention Mary. It was hard to mention her when Florence was trying to keep Mary’s secret because she had asked. So instead, Lana just trailed off and then she fiddled with her keys again.

“I should get us food and let you guys settle in. Then we can regain composure and head down the street to see what’s going on.” Lana offered, moving to tug her jacket back on.

“I’ll go with you,” Dean said, appearing in the room.

“No really, I understand if you need a minute to—“ Lana started but Dean interrupted her, “Thinking about food and keeping busy, that’s what I need.” 

“Well, alright. Guess you’re driving,” Lana said. Dean and Lana left, promising to bring back something good. 

Lily found Sam seated on the king bed in the guest room. He was flipping through his Dad’s book again. When she crossed the threshold, his emotions hit her like dead weight and she had to take a deep breath to steady herself and attempt to focus “Heard Dean talking about the master bath having a jacuzzi tub,” she said with a smile, “Thinking about seeing if I can find it,” she started suggestively.

Sam tried to smile but it didn’t reach his eyes. Lily’s shoulders dropped, “I’m sorry you had to come back here like this… I haven’t been back to my hometown since my Dad died.” 

“Just unexpected, you know?” Sam offered as Lily pushed her small frame between his legs. She nodded and brushed a strand of hair away from his forehead, “Yeah, I do.” 

“I hope we’re not stepping into something too deep but I know that woman needs help I just… I know it.” Sam continued. 

“And we’re going to help her,” Lily promised, “No one else is going to get hurt in that house. I won’t let that happen.”

“Yeah, alright,” he brought her close and kissed her quickly on the lips. 

“You know, this is kind of what I pictured,” he said.

“What?” Lily asked, totally lost. This trip was more than a surprise to all four of them. 

“This house…” he started, glancing around the room, “Four bedrooms, two bathrooms…classic — maybe a little more modern,” he started. 

“You’ve spent time picturing Lana’s childhood home?” She asked, unable to suppress a laugh, “Wow sometimes you really do go deep inside your head.” For emphasis, she ran both of her hands through his shaggy hair.

“No,” Sam squeezed her hips, finally breaking into a laugh himself, “ _Our_ house.” 

Lily’s breath caught in her throat. It had been a long time since they discussed anything remotely future-oriented; anything that focused on just them as a couple and not as a unit within the larger Winchester-Hunting-Family-Ltd. “Really?” she managed in a breathy whisper. 

“Yeah,” Sam nodded gently, “Sometimes I forget we were normal once.”

“Me too,” Lily replied, “But I don’t want to forget.”

“Me either,” Sam shook his head, “Maybe we’ll have it again one day.” 

“I’d like that,” Lily leaned up and he took the hint; the couple shared a long kiss that deepened with every second that ticked by until they laid back onto the bed to share in one moment of normalcy. 

**The Supermarket**  
Lana had a basket slung over her arm as she picked up a few things. She figured at least for the night maybe she could cook something up for everyone. How long had it been since they’d had a home cooked meal? Lana could barely remember and she was sure for the boys and Lily it had been a very, very long time. 

She and Dean had split up. With pasta, ground beef, and sauce already in her basket, Lana found her way to the produce to find a few suitable vegetables. The smell of the fresh produce was enough to send her stomach rumbling. 

“Alright, you ready?” Dean appeared with a basket of his own. Lana looked over and found that Dean’s basket was full of beer and bagged foods such as potato chips and corn nuts.

“Oh my God,” Lana shook her head, “You’re going to die at like 40 from high cholesterol.” 

Dean chuckled, “If I don’t make it to 40 my money’s on some demon, not the delicious taste of cheese wiz,” he looked over the greens in front of Lana with a confused face.

Lana inspected a head of kale and managed to fill her basket with salad fixings and veggies for the pasta. She was getting excited about dinner and she just hoped that their potential victim didn’t need help at dinner time, “Okay, I’m ready,” Lana led Dean to the check out. 

“My my, is that Lana Lou?” an older female approached the checkout lane wearing a “MANAGER” badge. 

Lana took a moment before a look of recognition washed over her, “Mrs. Maguire?” 

“Oh, it is you! Look at you, you look fabulous!” Mrs. Maguire stood near the bagger, “And who’s this we have here?” 

“This is — a friend,” Lana was careful. Everyone knew the story of the Winchesters and she was sure Dean didn’t want people to know that he had returned, “From school,” she lied. Most ‘normies’ from town thought Lana went off to school far away. Little did they know… 

“Oh how wonderful! You know I haven’t seen your mother around here in a while…will you give her my love?”

“Sure, Mrs. Maguire. But we have to go now, buh-bye,” Lana gave her a sugary-sweet look as the pair left the supermarket for Dean’s Impala.

“Lana Lou?” he smirked, unable to contain himself once they got outside.

“Don’t even think about it.”

The last thing that she needed was Dean calling her embarrassing names, but she smiled a little when he helped her put groceries into the car. It was a tiny, domestic thing, and she smirked. He caught it too, and rolled his eyes, but his hands found her hips and pulled her in for a second.

“Thanks for distracting me for a bit,” he told her, stealing a kiss as Lana slipped her arms around his shoulders. “Though I did see that kale in there.”

Lana laughed and stole another kiss. “It is to add to a salad. Trust me, I’m not a crazy kale person, but it tastes good in salads. Don’t worry: I got the ingredients to make you pie instead.”

“Apple?” Dean asked her, beaming when she nodded. “I love apple.”

“I know,” Lana smiled, kissing him one more time and then pulling away to look him in the eye. “So...this thing is clearly working out…”

Dean nodded, knowing what she was getting at here. “Not a conversation for a parking lot.”

“Agreed,” she smiled, and then they got back into the car to head back to the house.

Lana just wanted to cook, but for now, she knew they had to go check on the house, so she put groceries away when they got back, Dean helping. He left the room when he thought he heard Sam and Lily, and headed up to change his clothes. Shaking her head, Lana made some coffee, and eventually went to go and _knock_ on the guest bedroom door, smiling when Lily opened the door but not all the way.

“I made coffee,” Lana told her, smiling a bit. “We should probably go check out the house, though if the boys don’t want to do it...we could always do it…”

Sam spoke up from the room. “No, we’re going to go. It’ll be good for us.”

“Alright, then coffee is in the kitchen and I’m going to change my shirt,” Lana announced. “Give you guys some time to get a little more... _presentable_. Hey, enjoy yourselves though. That bed is all yours.”

With a wink, she left them alone and then headed up to her room, laughing when she saw Dean tugging his shirt over his head and his duffel on her bed. She had a feeling he’d end up in here, but it was clear he was here to stay in her room and they’d talk later. He had enough to worry about emotionally. They were about to go and deal with his old house, and she smiled as she changed her shirt too.

“I see you’re making yourself at home,” Lana pointed out, shaking her head. “You enjoying the place?”

Dean laughed and moved toward one of her walls. “I was not expecting ‘Winnie the Pooh’.”

“Mom painted it for me when I was 2, okay? I didn’t have the heart to take it down. It’s like really good. Like seriously, artist-of-the-old-books good. Plus that’s one of my favorite quotes,” she explained, rolling her eyes when he laughed again. “I don’t know what I expected from you.”

“It’s just...this was a nursery turned...well teenage girl bedroom, and you never painted it over?” he asked, nodding when she pulled away from his hands when he reached for her. “Oh, so now I don’t get anything?”

“You might actually be sleeping in Annie’s room,” Lana warned, shaking her head and heading for her bedroom door. “I am getting coffee and then we are going.”


	10. Azazel Has Plans...Plural

**The Old Winchester House**  
After having some coffee and snacks, the four hunters head down the street on foot, the boys pausing at the end of the sidewalk as they looked the place over. It looked great for the way they’d rebuilt after the fire, but Dean was still a bit agitated, Sam moving before he did. Lana stayed back, glancing at him, Dean nodding before he followed his brother and they knocked on the door.

Lily would be on Dean’s case later, but Lana slipped her hand into his as the door opened and a blonde woman came to the door. Dean started out trying to say they were from the gas company, or something like that, but Sam cut in and introduced them all. He just wanted to see the old house and not complicate anything with lies, and Lily smiled fondly at him for facing all of this.

“Winchester? I actually found a box of old pictures that belong to you,” the woman said with a nod. “I’m Jenny. Come on in.”

They smiled and followed her in, Lana looking at Lily to see what kinds of feelings she might be getting, and it clear that something was up. Even Lana felt like there was some kind of echo of something, so if she could feel a supernatural scar, then Lily had to be being assaulted with feelings right now. Still, they were happy to be introduced to the kids, Sari who was 6, and Ritchie who was clearly 3-ish. Jenny was explaining about faulty wiring and hearing rats she hadn’t seen in the basement, and both were signs of a malevolent spirit.

It was like being inside an electric current. The house was its own person with its own emotions and deep wounds. Lily tried to keep close to Sam, afraid to turn any corners by herself as if she’d come face to face with something (or someone) she didn’t want to see. 

Dean and Sam were surprisingly able to keep their heads about them and talk to Jenny about the house and their past and her present. 

Lana tried to hang back but something told her Sam was dead on to something — this house was calling out to her…like it _knew_ her. 

“You know,” Sam started, “Because of our Dad we learned to be pretty handy. We could have a look at the wiring and stuff, see if we can give you any advice,” he said, wanting express permission to poke around in odd places.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Jenny said, giving juice to her young son who seemed restless. 

“Please, it’d be kind of nice to get back to our roots, ya know? With a good deed.” Dean hopped in. 

“Well, okay.” Jenny said. Lily could sense her insecurities about the situation. She knew it must be hella odd: the old children of the house returning 20 years later then offering to fix what’s faulty. 

“She’s quite the artist,” Lily smiled, walking a few feet to a wall of hand-drawn pictures on a board near the fridge, “All Sari’s?” 

“Yeah, she really loves to draw,” Jenny confirmed. 

Lily ran her fingers over the drawings and it was a perfect view of little Sari. Then, suddenly, her hand snapped back. A flash of fear flooded her and when she noted the picture it all made sense: a man with yellow eyes. 

Lana was by her side, silent. She had seen Lily’s reaction and come to investigate without alerting Jenny. “Oh boy,” Lana murmured as she took note of the drawing. 

Dean and Sam were finishing up, “Thanks again. We’ll just swing by later with some tools and have a look if that’s alright?”

“Not tomorrow? It’s getting kind of late,” Jenny commented as she walked the group back to the door. 

“Uh- afraid we won’t be in town too long, best if we swing by later. After dinner of course, wouldn’t want to interrupt,” Sam plied. 

Jenny, still unsure, offered pleasantries and a goodbye before shutting the door on the group. 

“There’s something in that house,” Lily said immediately once they were a few steps down the walk, “And it’s been there a very long time.”

“Sari’s sure seeing something too,” Lana commented with a tone that told all: _seeing her father_. 

“In my vision, it happened in the middle of the night… guess we’ll just have to come back then? Stake out?” Sam tried, shoving his hands in his pockets as he tried to think.

“If she really lets us inside tonight, maybe we can figure it out before your vision even comes true. Stop the sucker at the source.” Dean tried as they reached Lana’s front yard.

“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy…” Lily interjected, “I don’t think it’s like a normal ghost or anything its… I don’t know,” Lily always had trouble finding the right words. 

“Well we’ll do our damndest anyway,” Dean replied, not wanting to discuss ‘failure’ as an option. 

They all filed into Lana’s house and stripped away shoes and jackets. The walk was short but their time inside the old house had drained them. 

“Best thing we can do is eat and get our strength up for whatever comes tonight,” Lana rubbed her shoulder at the crook of her neck. 

“I don’t think I’m hungry,” Lily replied, her mind still back at the Winchester house. It was so strange: it wasn’t _familiar_ per se, the wound was very deep and very singular but something about the energy was like a mirror image to her own past and it struck a cord somewhere deep within her.

Dean’s eyebrows raised up, “You? Not hungry?” he pressed his hand teasingly to her forehead, “You alright?” 

Lily gave him a playful look, “I’m fine. I mean if you could all stop feeling things in your childhood homes maybe I’d be hungry,” she teased. Not only was the Winchester house a sentient energy, she had Dean, Lana, and Sam all returning to their childhood homes, their roots, their first scars… that was a lot to experience.

“Well I’m going to make dinner and I think once you smell it you’ll change your tune,” Lana offered, hoping that would be true. It was not a time to not eat the could be in quite a predicament come Sam’s vision.

Dean wandered over to a bookshelf when Lana disappeared into the kitchen.

“Yahtzee!” he exclaimed, pulling a photo album from the shelf.

“Dean Winchester!” Lana exclaimed, with a wooden spoon in hand. He meandered into the kitchen, cradling the album as he opened it, “Remind me to thank your Mom for keeping these around…”

“If you live that long…” Lana grumbled. 

“Hey uh…” Dean saddled up to her, pointing his finger at a Halloween photography from 15 years previous, “You still got that thing laying around?” he pointed to the slinky costume with a wink. 

“Oh my god…” Lana shook her head, trying to start the sauce, “You’re a teenager.” 

“If that’s what wets your whistle.” He winked.

“Ew! Ugh!” Lana cried out but she couldn’t help but laugh. She loved this man; she might not have admitted it out loud yet, but she couldn’t avoid the feeling. She only hoped that her half-demon _situation_ didn’t ruin a good thing. 

**Across the Meckenzie House**  
Sam realized he hadn’t seen Lily since she went to the bathroom quite a bit before. With a little investigation, Sam found Lily on the back porch. She sat beneath the single bulb with John’s book. 

“Hard to make sense of some of that,” Sam said, slowly approaching her. He stopped behind her chair, resting his hands on her shoulders to glance at what page she was on, “Can’t say my Dad thought anyone else would read it.” 

“I think he did,” Lily replied, pressing her cheek against his hand. “He did this for you two… I can feel it.”

It was their father’s journal, but Dean had always been the most protective of it, and now Lily was pouring over it because of a girl having nightmares. There were some things in here, but they were going to need to know more about the area. More about what had actually happened that night, and Sam didn’t remember. He was only 6 months old at the time of the house fire.

“We should ask Dean what he remembers,” Lily told him. “Other than him, the only people who know are your father and Lana’s mother. Maybe Florence told Lana something.”

Sam nodded, taking a deep breath. “The more I looked at Sari’s drawings, the more I saw a figure on fire...which reads more as a spirit than the actual demon. An echo you know? A supernatural wound that attracts something else into it? Jenny’s problems are definitely a poltergeist, but that night? That’s when it started.”

“The house feels really bad,” Lily nodded, swallowing. “What exactly is a supernatural wound?”

“I don’t know a lot about them, I’ve just heard Dad mention it before,” Sam admitted, nodding slowly. “Maybe Lana knows. She’s been at this hunting thing longer than me, remember?”

Lily smiled a little at that and nodded, but she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do right now. All she knew was that everyone was hurting, the boys especially, and they weren’t really that much closer to what they could do to help Jenny with what she was going through. She had two young kids in that house too, who were in danger with a poltergeist hanging around on fire in her closet. Perhaps it was time to call someone that would actually know something, or talk to someone in town. The thing was, why would they need someone in town, when they could get Florence here with a phone call?

**In the Meckenzie Kitchen**  
Dean was kind of impressed that Lana was _cooking_ , and even though he had no idea what he was doing, he helped her with a couple of things after he had put the photo album down. They had started to talk about all sorts of things, but they rested on the case and Dean tried to work it through with Lana out loud.

“There was no sulfur, but Sari did have that picture,” Dean told her, shaking his head. “How...can you sense him?”

Lana took a breath as she stirred the pasta sauce. “I mean, yes. In a way--not like Lily can, but I know what he’s in the same place that I am. It’s why I had fits as a kid. His touch is in that house, but it doesn’t feel the same.”

“Well, Jenny’s got a poltergeist at the very least, but demonic wounds aren’t my forte,” Dean admitted, shaking his head. “The electricity, the lack of rats but all the sounds? The spirit on fire in Sari’s closet? Your father certainly left his mark on the house.”

“Which is why I wonder why my mother stayed close,” Lana admitted as she put the lid on the pot and turned the heat lower to let it simmer as the pasta cooked.

Dean turned to look at her. “What do you mean?”

“I mean...do you remember that night?” Lana asked Dean slowly.

“Not much. I remember the fire…the heat,” Dean admitted, taking a breath. “And then I carried Sam out the front door.”

Lana reached out to give his shoulder a squeeze, and nodded before she went into the living room and took an album off of the bottom shelf. Pulling it out, she opened it up and flipped a few pages, turning the book around to show Dean. At first he had no idea what it was that he was looking at, but then he realized it was a young Florence...with a young Mary Campbell.

“Our mothers knew each other,” Lana explained, shaking her head. “I don’t know the full story, I just know that revenge for your mother was for her too. When that fire happened, she tried to get to the bottom of it with your father.”

Dean nodded slowly. “He always said that he ‘went to Missouri to learn the truth’. I thought that meant that he went to Missouri and found the answers with Florence.”

“Missouri is a psychic in town. I’ve only met her a couple of times,” Lana admitted, pulling out her phone. “In fact, I’m going to invite both her and my mother for dinner, and maybe we’ll get to the bottom of this. Demonic wounds? My mother knows those well.”

**Two Hours Later**  
While Florence had only replied in a text message, Missouri had come to the house, Lana opening it up and smiling at her. She pulled the young woman into a hug, and then looked past her into the living room, where Sam, Dean and Lily were sitting. It was clear their minds were all somewhere, but they had Missouri to give them at least some answers.

“Sam and Dean,” she said with a little smile. “Oh, you boys grew up handsome and you, Dean? You were a goofy looking kid,” Missouri said, Lana laughing under her breath as Dean shot her a look. “Come now, Lana, you’ve benefited from the Ugly Duckling thing.” That made her stop, but then Missouri got to Lily and her smile dampened. “Lily...my dear...you feel things so very deeply. Sometimes, you need to think about you, Sweetheart.”

Lily knew she was a psychic, but the feelings she got from Missouri were so different than that of others. Perhaps it was because they were both feeling things from everyone, but Lily smiled at her, and thanked her for the lovely compliment.

“So...a real psychic,” Dean said out loud, nodding when Lana did. “So you can tell us about this demonic wound in our house?”

“I felt a trace of the demon that killed Mary, but…” Lana started, and then trailed off.

“I know. I’ve been keeping an eye on that house since it all happened, but nothing has happened until now,” Missouri explained, looking at Dean as he sat on the couch. “Boy, you put your foot on Florence's coffee table, I’mma whack you with a spoon!”

Dean looked miffed. “I didn’t do anything!”

“You were thinking about it,” Missouri responded, the other three hunters laughing as Dean made a face and straightened up on the couch. “When your mother died, boys, John came to me to ask me to look at the house. I walked through what was left and I could feel the echoes. You were touched by true evil, and no, Lana. That does not extend to you.”

For a moment Lana was surprised, but she felt tears come to her eyes when Missouri addressed her like that. She could read people’s thoughts and Lana nodded, smiling a little when Lily moved to wrap her arms around her. If anyone was going to reassure Lana that she was not her father, it was Lily always and the boys second.

“So what do you think is there now?” Sam asked Missouri, trying to let Lana have her moment without everyone watching her. “If it isn’t the demon, why is Sari drawing him?”

“Because Azazel left a deep wound on that house...on every house where he has burned a mother on the ceiling for interrupting him,” Florence explained, having walked in the front door as Sam was asking his question.

Lana wasn’t as surprised as everyone else, but Lily let Lana move to her mother, who wrapped her arms around her daughter and held her close. She knew a little about these supernatural wounds, and that was why Lana had texted her. Had she expected her mother to even be here? No, but she was glad that she was.

“Okay, so what is this wound?” Lily asked her, honestly needing to know for her own sanity.

Florence took a breath. “Like Missouri said, when true evil rips into a place, it leaves an echo. An echo so strong, that it draws other supernatural forces to it. In this case...a poltergeist.”

“There is more than a poltergeist,” Lily found herself speaking up. “When we were in the house, it felt like more than one thing, but Sam says there was no sulfur.”

“Then it has probably attracted more than one spirit. That would be why Jenny is having so many problems with everything,” Sam added on, nodding slowly. “So this isn’t because the demon is here, it’s because what he did to our mother...to Lily and I...it is what started this and now Jenny and her children are caught in the crossfire.”

Florence nodded at them. “Well then, we just have to get rid of her ghosts. Poltergeists are pretty easy to tame, we just have to spell them out of the house.”

“But first, dinner. I made pasta and pie and salad, and I don’t want to run down the street and order Jenny out of her house with the kids. At the same time, Sari saw the flaming spirit in her closet at night. That means that we’re going to have to figure out something before the kids’ bedtime. So...eat fast?”

Dean chuckled and rubbed his hands together. “I can do that.”

The group gathered around the long dining room table. Dean remained true to his word and ate as if he had never had a plate of food before in his life. Sam enjoyed having Missouri and Florence at the table, and began to pick their brains and enjoy their _refined_ company. 

Lana felt lucky. Sitting at the table with her mom, Lily, and the Winchesters: it felt like a family unit (and Missouri was like their warm, eccentric aunt). She felt pride in getting to cook for family and bring everyone together at the table. It felt right.

“Hey,” Lana mumbled quietly, reaching out to gently run her fingers over Lily’s arm as the girl pushed food around her plate, “You really should eat,” she urged quietly, trying not to draw the attention of anyone else at the table. 

Lily smiled, “I had a bite of pie,” she promised. Lily wanted to climb up to the diving board and swan dive into the many dishes Lana had prepared for them; they smelled delicious and spaghetti and meatballs was one of her favorite foods. Lucky for her, the mood around the table had greatly improved and eased intensity off of Lily significantly but she would just be glad when the case was over. 

“Of course, I make a whole salad and meatballs packed with protein and you have pie,” Lana winked, “You have been spending too much time with Dean.”

“What was that?” Dean caught his name, a noodle still hanging from his lip before he sucked it into his mouth. 

“I told her she needs to grab a slice of pie before you eat the whole thing,” Lana returned which was confirmed by Dean reaching out for a second helping of spaghetti before Lana had barely managed through her first. It’s not that Lana was not a champion eater herself but Dean, quite simply, was the best. 

Missouri smiled and looked down to Dean. It took him a second to notice but he gave her a very concerned and questioning look as to why the psychic woman was looking at him. Missouri put the man out of his misery, “You may not have manners, boy, but you love your family,” she said warmly. 

Dean gave a small smile but shrugged and continued to shovel food into his mouth as if it were going out of style. 

“Oh my God, Missouri, I _have_ to know,” Lana interjected, wanting to know what she had seen inside of Dean’s head to make her say such a thing. 

Missouri placed her hand onto Lily’s and squeezed gently while she looked to Lana, “So often people come to me because of problems in their home. Cheating spouses and jealous lovers, family hurting one another just for spite… It is rare I spend time with people so genuine in their love for each other.” 

Lana’s heart swelled. That wasn’t exactly an answer to her question but maybe it was — Missouri had looked into Dean’s head and responded with carefully chosen words . Looking down the run, she caught eyes with Dean who gave her a goofy smile as he ate. 

“We should go soon,” Sam looked at the great grandfather clock as his conversation with Florence wound down, “It’s dark and I’m sure that poltergeist already knows something's up.”

“Yeah, alright,” Dean stood and threw his napkin onto the table, “Time to get to work,” he clapped his hands together as the table began to push out chairs. 

“Clear your plate,” Missouri pressured Dean as Lana watched her in awe. 

“Can we take you with us, please?” Lana asked.

Missouri smiled, “You’re doing just fine, my girl. Have some faith.” 

**The Old Winchester House**  
Missouri had prepared gris gris bags to be placed at the corners of the home — she was certain it would expel the poltergeist and allow the family to live in peace. They had sent Jenny and her children out of the house for safety, making up some excuse and promising her to be back in a couple hours to a brand new home.

Each member of the group had a bag with the express orders of what point in the home to secure it. 

“Now you all must tread carefully. It does not like us here and when it realizes what we are doing… it could get dangerous.” Missouri explained, “It has had a long time to become a part of your home.”

The term ‘your home’ struck Sam oddly. He had only been six months old when the great fire happened, when his mother died, and when they left the house for good — how could it be _his_ home? But he said nothing of the sort and clutched his gris gris bag, “Got it,” he answered Missouri before the group split up in pairs: Sam/Lily, Lana/Dean, and Florence/Missouri. They had to start from top to bottom, then from East to West, to all meet again at the heart of the home for the last bag. 

**In the Basement**  
“How come we get the basement?” Dean grumbled as he and Lana descended the stairs into the dark, unfinished cellar. 

“Are you afraid of the dark?” Lana asked. She knew from their hunting experiences alone they had been in creepier places than this house’s basement. 

“No!” Dean shot back defensively, “But for once it would be nice to send Sam into some creepy part of the house filled with spiders!” he said as he brushed a phantom web from his shoulder. 

Lana laughed, “Maybe one day,” she patted his shoulder to placate him but a moment later she noted the small window across the basement, “There it is,” she said. Hurrying, she closed the distance and set the bag in the small windowsill of cinderblock. 

A loud bang sounded from above them. Like something knocking or slamming a door and she had a feeling it wasn’t one of their cohorts, “Oh boy,” she said. Missouri was right…when they started placing these bags it was going to get intense. 

Dean clutched the sawed off at his side a little tighter. It was filled with rock salt in case anything decided it wanted to manifest itself and make his day, “Why do I have a feeling this is going to be harder than I thought?” 

“We better hurry,” Lana urged. Dean wasn’t going to argue. He and Lana hurried back up the stairs to find that the door had slammed shut and wouldn’t budge. 

“Well that’s just great!” Dean exclaimed, trying to shoulder it open. 

“Yeah, it _definitely_ doesn’t want us here…” Lana backed up so Dean could try and kick the door open. 

**Upstairs**  
Lily watched Sam pull the rope to extend the stairs to the attic. 

“I got this,” she said with a smile, realizing how out-of-date and rickety the stairs were. However, they were lucky they had Sam because the attic would have been nearly unattainable without his significant height. 

“Okay, be careful,” Sam urged, spotting her as she ascended the creaking ladder and hoisted herself into the old attic space. 

“I see it!” she called back. A small air vent that sat just below the crux of the front of the home: the perfect spot for her gris gris bag. However, it was a crawl to get there but she was just the right size for the job and she felt pride in that.

Sam had wanted to protect Lily from all of this, but it seemed like that wasn't going to be the case. They were still looking for a place to beat a hole in the wall, when Lily sensed something was wrong. She turned just in time to see a cord move by itself from a lamp and wrap around Sam’s neck, Lily crying out for help.

Lana and Dean had found themselves in the kitchen together looking for a way to get the door open when it happened, Dean noting the look on Lana’s face and the tears in her eyes. The cry from Lily made them look up toward the stairs, but knives came out of the drawer and were thrown at them to stop them from trying to get upstairs again. While Lily tried to get the cord to stop suffocating Sam, who was now on the floor, Lana moved the table up to shield her and Dean from the knives hurling at them with a flick of her wrist, Dean just letting it happen.

In this moment, her having these 'telekinetic type powers' helped them out, and Dean realized just what an asset that could be for them as a whole. When the knives ran out, she dropped the table and she and Dean bolted from the kitchen. Luckily the poltergeist seemed to have switched gears with no more knives, and Lana and Dean hurried to the room that she was calling from, her fingers trying to pluck the cord off so Sam could breathe, but his body was going slack.

“You can’t die on me, Sam Winchester!” Lily exclaimed, looking up when Dean kicked a hole in the wall and Lana dropped the bag of purifying herbs inside.

A blinding white light filled the room for a moment, Lily wrapping her arms around Sam as he gasped for air. There were tears in her eyes, and she was feeling all of the emotions as Sam tried to hug her back, but he was weak. They were all just glad that Sam was alright, because none of them wanted another death to happen, and Lana suddenly felt a shiver go down her spine. Not a ghost shiver either, but a presence as Missouri came to join them..

"I don't feel them anymore," Missouri explained, taking a breath. "You guys did it."

Lana shook her head, nodding when Lily shook hers too. "It isn't over yet…"

That seemed rather ominous, but the hunters said goodbye to Missouri, and when Jenny got back with the kids, she was very thankful. Lily insisted they stay in the car and watch the house, however, Lana feeling so uneasy as she sat there in the car.

"What’s wrong?" Dean asked her, honestly worried about the whole thing.

Lana chewed on her lip. "I think he's here. Not in the house just...around."

She knew it was just the demonic sense taking over right now, but everyone in the car was worried when she said it. A very ominous event was happening right now, but they couldn't even get rest from _that_ , as Sam looked over the house again, and saw Jenny beating on her bedroom window to try to get their attention, just like in his vision.

“Let’s go,” Sam told them, getting out of the car first.

The other three followed behind him, getting in and jumping right into action. Dean had Lily follow him so they could get Jenny out of her room, Lana and Sam heading for the kids. When Lana got into Sari’s room, she saw the burning figure in her closet, reaching for the child and telling her not to look. Sari hurried to her, Sam getting Ritchie, and Lily and Dean had to kick Jenny’s bedroom door in to get her out of her room.

This poltergeist did _not_ want them here.

“Alright, Sari, take your brother outside as fast as you can, and don’t look back,” Sam told her, and suddenly an invisible force threw Sam onto the ground after he handed Ritchie to his sister.

Sari screamed and hurried outside with her brother, Lana calling out Sam’s name and suddenly being very alert. When Sari got there with her brother, Dean, Lily and Jenny were already out on the lawn waiting for them, and not seeing the other two put fear in their eyes. They were supposed to be there with them, but clearly this was far from over.

“Sari, where are Lana and Sam?” Dean asked her hurriedly.

“They’re inside,” Sari cried, shaking her head. “Something got him and she went to save him.”

Dean looked up at the front door as Lily started for the house, but the front door slammed shut and when Lily touched the door knob, dark energy coursed right into her, making her cry out as her hand felt like it was on fire. She had to let go of the door knob, Dean opening up the trunk, grabbing an ax to chop at the door to get it open, Jenny holding her kids close as the scene unfolded before her.

Lily held her throbbing hand, staying out of Dean’s way as he chopped at the door, Lana and Sam being pinned to the wall inside of the kitchen. This was most definitely a poltergeist, and for a moment, Lana wished that she had the powers to stop this. Her powers worked on demons, and she could move things, but they didn't seem to work on the ghost persuasion. It dawned on her in the moment that she couldn't save Sam or herself, and what kind of partner did that make her?

“Sam!” Lily cried out, seeing the flaming figure appear and get closer to them.

“Lana! We’re almost through!” Dean called out to her, feeling his heart constrict at the possibility of her getting hurt, but he made a hole big enough for him and Lily to get through.

Lana paused however as she looked the figure over. “Sam…”

“I see it,” Sam told her, Dean and Lily coming in with the rock salt gun. “No, don’t shoot! DON’T!”

“Sam!” Lily protested, as confused as Dean was in the moment.

“No, I know who it is, Lily. I can see her now,” Sam explained, and the fire vanished.

Standing in front of them was Mary Winchester, looking exactly as she had the night that she had been pinned and burned to the ceiling of this house. Dean’s whole demeanor softened, Lily and Lana knowing who it was when Dean spoke in that soft, broken tone he took when he was feeling the kind of broken he hated to be in front of people.

“Mom?” Dean asked her.

She smiled and stepped closer to him. “Dean...Lily…” she turned from them and moved closer to Sam and Lana who had tears in their eyes for different reasons. “Lana...Sam,” Mary greeted, her eyes on Sam as her smile faded. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Sam asked her, genuinely confused now too.

Mary just looked at him sadly, saying nothing and walking away from them to the middle of the kitchen and looking up at the ceiling. “You get out of my house. And let go of my son.” Once again she burst into flames, and as the fire reached the ceiling, she disappeared in a burst, Sam and Lana released from the hold on the wall... _now_ it was over.

It was hard to voice anything for a moment, all of them looking at where Mary had disappeared, and then at each other. Jenny saw them come out and they confirmed what she needed to hear, the four nodding and climbing into the Impala. They needed sleep before they came back in the morning for their box of pictures--everyone needed time to process. However, Dean turned to look at Lana in the back seat as she sat there, his heart hurting for her when he saw the tears in her eyes.

“Hey…” he told her gently, saying it again to get her to look at him.

She smiled sadly and then shook her head. “I’m sorry. I know it was _your_ Mom, so I don't have a place to be upset, but my father caused all of this, and I think he's watching. I think he knows, and I don't want you guys to get killed because of me."

Dean shook his head, reaching for her face and wiping the tears off with his thumbs. Perhaps he had been trying to keep it all a secret, but she needed him in the moment and he didn't want to let her down.

"If you feel him, we should find him," Lily said softly.

Lana looked at her after a moment of eye contact with Dean. "And do what? We can't kill him because we don't know how."

All of this felt like her fault, and she smiled a little when even Sam rested his hand on her shoulder as Lily snuggled up to her. They were a family now, and that meant having each others' backs. None of them knew what this whole demon blood thing meant, but they weren't afraid of Lana.

"How is your hand, Lily?" Lana asked, trying to get focus somewhere else.

“It’s fine,” Lily replied to Lana simply. It was painful but nothing that she couldn’t nurse with a good night's sleep. 

Dean took this question as a sign he could drive. He felt a minor guilt leaving Jenny with a broken front door and holes kicked in her walls but he knew he could not go back into that house and Jenny was so grateful they had saved her and her children that she would call the insurance company in the morning. 

It was only a few blocks but Dean drove them — they were too battered as a group to walk. He pulled right into the driveway. Missouri and Florence had left them once the job was done — it was the right thing to do for the group. 

They needed to process on their own.

It was a quiet march back into Lana’s house. They had defeated the poltergeist and met Mary Winchester but the mood was overall grim. It also uncovered so much of what they had left to do: kill Lana’s father and try to live long enough to see it done. 

The couples split apart. No one bothered a shower. Different articles of clothing were abandoned in trails: coats, shoes, shirts… 

Lily looked at the burn marks on her hand, wondering what exactly had happened. There had been no real fire (other than Mary’s spirit) but that house had it out for her. 

“Hold on,” Sam gathered himself and dug through his duffle. He pulled out an old toiletries case but it was really a Winchester First Aid Kit. He gathered gauze and salve to apply to her palm, wrapping her hand with a known method.

“You’re like a boy scout,” she smiled tiredly at him as he finished his job. 

“Yeah, uh, something like that,” he smiled. He brought her hand up to his face and kissed it gently before he let her go, “Let’s get some sleep,” he said, exhausted. Lily could tell he was only half-present with her but she could not blame him: he had just seen his mother basically for the first time in his life. 

“Yes please,” Lily curled up as the customary little spoon. Sam was asleep once his head hit the pillow and for that Lily was grateful. 

**Lana’s Old Bedroom**  
There were no pretenses now. Dean was spending the night in her room, in her bed, with Lana. Lana felt drained, physically and mentally. Dean did not know how to help. They both ended up on the bed in various states of undress. Dean took her face between his hands and looked over every contour of her face, “Don’t let him get to you.”

Lana sighed, her hand resting on his hip, fingers playing with the band of his boxers, “It’s not that easy,” she breathed, happy to have him here… she was not sure she could separate from their little family unit now — no matter what the dangers. They were in too deep.

“I know,” he replied simply, “But I’m going to do everything I can to make it easy,” he replied, brushing his thumb gently over her smooth cheek. 

“It’s dangerous you know,” Lana started, “Me, Sam, and Lily together… we’re like one big tracking marker.”

“Maybe but it’s not something any of you should be doing alone. No way,” Dean replied. 

Lana took a long moment in the quiet, their eyes held in each other’s. She could see the exhaustion in his heavy lids and finally she spoke again, “Let’s sleep…maybe when the sun comes up he’ll be gone again.”

Dean kissed her forehead and wrapped his strong arms around her so she pressed to his body because there: she was safe.

**The Guest Room**  
Sam had been deep asleep for a while, but Lily barely managed a wink. She was careful not to toss and turn but she had a hard time sitting still. Her hand burned and something still stirred within her that would not let her rest. 

She crept out of bed and found her way to the kitchen. She was trying for the cliche glass of water trick to help her put her mind at ease and send herself back to bed. 

The signs of her family were all over the house. Chairs pushed out, jackets over sofas, empty beer bottles on surfaces. Lily momentarily pondered what it would be like if they were ever able to stop, if they were ever able to leave the ‘family business’: is this what home would look like? 

“ _Not for you_.” A voice sounded in her head. She looked around but no one was there. She really _was_ tired. Lily returned the glass to the sink and padded back down to the guest room. 

Once she walked through the doorway she stopped dead cold. Standing at the side of the bed, looking over the sleeping Sam was _him_ ; the man from her childhood nightmares... The man who brought them all together…the same man who threatened to tear them all apart. His yellow eyes gleamed in the darkness. Somehow, even in her moment of terror Lily knew he wasn’t _actually_ there but yet…there he stood. 

“Stay away from him,” Lily said firmly but her voice cracked in fear. 

He just smiled at her. When he spoke again she realized the voice was in her head — his visage did not move, “ _Don’t you worry… Hell has great plans for the two of you — I won’t be breaking up this little love story just yet…_ ” 

Lily felt tears stream down her cheeks but she was rooted in place, unable to move forward or run away. 

“Hell?” 

The phantom form smiled widely and her hands shook violently as fear overcame her. 

“ _I’ll be seeing you soon, Lily_.” 

In an instant he dematerialized and Sam was the only one left in the room, still asleep with no idea what had transpired. 

Unable to help herself, overcome with her fear and the lingering emotions of the entire case, Lily fell to her knees and began to sob.

**Meckenzie House - Backyard**  
Lana had been trying to sleep, up until she had felt her father so very clearly. She was suddenly brought back in her mind to early years in this house, feeling him and then running to her mother crying before Alan had been murdered. Before, the presence had scared the shit out of her, but now? Now it was so much more than that, and she'd untangled herself from a sleeping Dean and wandered down the stairs and out the back.

It was cold, and the night air nipped at her bare arms, Lana feeling the presence disappear for a moment before it was back stronger than ever. Turning slowly, she made eye contact with a man, his yellow eyes flashing at her. This was her father.

This was the man that had started all of this.

"I wondered if I'd see you too," he told her, tilting his head and looking her over. "Gotta hand it to Florence: she was good breeding stock."

Lana made a face. "You're a pig."

"Not quite, Princess, but I like the spirit," he told her jovially, taking a step toward her. "You weren't part of the plan."

"Oh, I know. You were just enjoying a good time, tricking my mother into thinking you'd escaped her again," Lana nodded, looking down at her feet and then back up at him. "I'm not going to help you, you know?"

Azazel smirked. "Who says you've got a choice?"

The way he posed the question to her made her pause, but she didn't want to show him that that worried her. She didn't want him to know that that made her want to practice these powers even less. Could they help the rest of them? Yes. Would it come at a cost? Sounded like it would.

"Why are you here?" Lana asked him pointedly.

Azazel shrugged his shoulders. "Mary and Florence are two of my favorites. Mary had John and I knew they'd have some strapping kids. Sam is one of my finest, though that girl of his," he whistled, "her powers are something else all together. Then we've got you, Princess. You haven't even scratched the surface. Only one of your kind and I couldn't have done better."

She might be the only one now, but she wondered if other demons would ever try again. If they found out, wouldn't it make sense to try? Was that an easy thing?

"I see the wheels turning," he piped up. "This is the first time a half demon has ever happened and let me tell you, chances are one in a million. You should feel special."

Lana shook her head. "I don't. I feel like a monster."

"You're not a monster just because you're powerful. When the time is right, it will all fall into place," Azazel explained, grinning at her. "For now, I suggest aiming higher than that meat sack in there. Though I supposed the Winchesters do stand to be good breeders."

That only made her frown, the laugh that came out of him making her feel uneasy all over again. It was almost like he'd just given her permission and she didn't appreciate it in the slightest. Besides, he was making her feel like perhaps even as an accident, she was fitting into his twisted plans.

"We aren't breeding," she stressed, shaking her head. "Even if we were, a child of mine would grow up like me. Make their own choices. You might have been part of why I exist, but that doesn't mean I have to follow in your example."

Her strong will actually made him smile, but it was a smile that made it seem like he knew something that she didn’t know and that made her make a face. She didn’t want him to be any kind of proud of her, and she rubbed her bare arms with her hands, trying to warm up. At least he wasn’t making it out like he was going to hurt her, but his words cut like a knife.

“I’ll be seeing you, Princess,” Azazel said, smiling and then leaving.

The way he called her ‘princess’ wasn’t affectionate, it wasn’t tender...it was dangerous and she didn’t like it at all. Whatever was going to happen next, she had to be more proactive about protecting the people she loved.


	11. Harte Family Secrets

**The Next Morning**  
Lana barely slept, and even though she was in Dean’s arms and she felt safe, she still felt nervous about the conversation with her father. He wasn’t even her top issue, but she did know that she had to find a way to get rid of him once and for all, and she was so exhausted from tossing and turning, that she was up and making coffee instead of going out for a jog. She was also surprised when Dean came down, expecting him to sleep in like usual: she thought that Sam was going to join her first.

“Babe, what are you doing up?” she asked, blushing when she realized what she’d said.

Dean seemed happy as he smirked though, moving to her and slipping his arms around her from behind. “I was hoping to roll over this morning and solicit a little something...but I woke up to an empty side of the bed.”

“I’m sorry. I slept well in your arms, but I don’t know, my mind is going a mile a minute,” she admitted, leaning back into him and smiling when he moved her hair off of her neck and kissed it. “Are you trying to solicit something right now, because I haven’t even gotten to drink my coffee yet.”

“We’ve got time for a little fun, but first, coffee sounds good,” Dean told her.

“It also smells good,” Sam laughed, laughing more when Dean looked surprised, but didn’t move his arms. “So, Lily’s little matchmaking paid off, huh?”

Dean took a deep breath. “She is never going to let me live this down.”

“No, but it kinda looks like it’s worth it,” Sam poured himself some coffee.

There was a part of him that wanted to argue against it, but with one more kiss placed to Lana’s neck, Dean nodded at his brother in agreement. He was too old, honestly, to keep playing this silly game when he had a good woman where he was, and even feeling like ties could be harmful, this tie didn’t feel bad. It felt like he actually had something good that was all his, and he only moved to pour himself some coffee.

“How are you both holding up?” Lana asked them slowly, leaning on the island counter. It was the only modern part of the kitchen, but she loved it. “What you guys saw was…”

Dean nodded, not really wanting to talk about it. “I just wish that Dad would have showed up. I called him and he didn’t even try.”

“I want to know what’s got him so distant,” Sam admitted, nodding slowly. “I also think we need to talk about Lily. She felt a lot of things and I think we need to take it easy on her.”

“I see what you mean about this stuff taking a lot out of her,” Lana admitted, sipping her coffee. “However, you also need to let her prove herself. You keep forcing her to be in this as little as possible, and you’re doing her a huge disservice. The only way to get better at being able to protect yourself in this job, is to learn how to protect yourself. Also...I’d really like to look harder into ways to kill demons. I can’t…”

She trailed off as Dean ran his hand up and down her back, both of them understanding that she needed to get her life in order and killing her father felt like the way to do it. Lana also wanted them to not leave Lily out of things because she wasn’t some fragile little girl: she was their partner. Of course Lana wanted to protect all of them, but Lily wanted to protect all of them too and they had to let her figure out the means to do it in her own way.

Lily laid in bed far longer than she usually would but she could not quiet her mind. Once Sam had crept out she stopped pretending to sleep and stared at the ceiling. Finally, she knew she couldn’t avoid it any longer and the smell of coffee was admittedly too tempting to pass up. 

Lily made her way to the kitchen and the three were having coffee. For the first time in weeks, the feelings in the room were mostly calm. Tension was slim to none. Laughter and intimate conversations abound. It made her heart swell but that didn’t change what she had seen last night. 

“Well look who it is,” Dean noted her first. She gravitated to the pot of coffee to pour herself a mug of black life juice. However, instead of immediately joining her family at the table, she turned around and braced the counter with her back and spoke, “I think there’s something I have to do.” 

The trio became attentive. Sam’s brow creased in question and worry. Lana had a feeling she wasn’t the only one with a midnight visitor. 

“What is it, Lily?” Sam asked gently as Lily stood before them. 

“I think,” she braced herself for the reality of what she was about to say, “I think I need to go home too…” 

There was a quietness that overcame the room in the wake of her words. Lily sipped one good long sip to comfort herself before she continued, “I know how hard being here has been for all three of you… I mean…” she gave a small laugh, they all knew she could _feel_ it just as they could, “…But I also think this has been one of the most important things you guys have done in a long time and I just… when my Dad died I went straight to college and never looked back. I never went back. I think I need to close that chapter.” 

Her admission hung suspended in the air between them all. 

Finally, Lana spoke, “I think that’s a great idea,” she gave the girl a comforting smile. Lana knew she had to have some time alone with Lily before they left Lawrence — each girl clearly needed to offload some emotional baggage and it wasn’t something to involve the boys in just yet. 

“Guess we’re going to Michigan,” Dean said simply, “I hear they have great cherry pie.”

Lily, despite herself, broke into a small smile, “Yeah, they do.” 

Sam remained quiet, unsure about her plan. He wasn’t one to tell her ‘no’ but something about returning to the scene of yet another YED origin did not sit well with him.

“Alright, boys, I think you two can handle yourselves. It’s time for some real girl talk,” Lana said with a smile. She refilled her mug and asked Lily to follow her. They headed up to Lana’s old room and Lana closed the door. 

“Girl talk?” Lily said finally, taking a seat at the edge of the bed.

“It’s like saying something about your period, they’re not going to ask questions.” Lana gave her a smile.

“Questions like: you saw him too, didn’t you?” Lily cut right to the thick of things.

Lana nodded, “Yeah. Yeah I did,” she answered.

“I mean, I know he wasn’t really here but… Is he in my head? Is he in our heads?” Lily asked with worry.

Lana took a seat next to her, “No,” she said surely, “I can’t explain it but between this town and all of us… the connection is like…it’s like a strong WiFi signal,” she gave her a small smirk at her silly analogy, “Like getting someone over the radio… I think when we leave this town — his signal will go static again.” 

Lily sipped her coffee, pondering Lana’s explanation. She looked around the room, noticing Dean’s pistol on the nightstand. She smiled, “Are you two done being weird now?”

Lana flushed but Lily was the last person she’d hide it from, “I don’t think Dean’s ever going to be done being weird but yeah… something changed last night… maybe seeing Mary? I don’t know but… no more hiding.”

Lily set her coffee aside so she could hug her friend. The physical contact eased some of Lily’s tension and she felt like it solidified that Lana wasn’t going to suddenly run off and leave them for any reason. She was officially part of their team. 

“Does that mean I have to stop teasing Dean about it?” Lily asked. She did not want Lana to feel awkward about anything anymore. They were grown ass adults… ( _kind of_ ). 

Lana laughed, “No! Of course not!” she shook her head.

Lily laughed with her friend… or was it sister now? She set her empty mug on the nightstand and picked up Dean’s gun. It was heavy. Really heavy. The ivory handle was strangely beautiful but Lily barely handled guns. If she did, she’d be armed with a sawed off and that was very, very different. 

“You know…” Lana started, the light bulb going off in her head, “I think we can spend a little more time around here….” she grew excited over her idea and it came out in her words, “What if we snuck out of here and into the backwoods and I teach you how to shoot that thing?”

Lily’s eyes grew wide. The boys had given her some training: basic self defense, how to aim a sawed off filled with rock salt, etc. but nothing like learning how to properly shoot a pistol, “Uhm, yes please!” 

“Okay! Get dressed. I’ll sneak his pistol out of here and meet me at the tree-line in the backyard in 20.” 

Lily smiled, ecstatic to be treated as an equal partner, “Okay!” she jumped out, bounding off to the guest room. 

Lana also figured it was a good way to get Lily out of her own head after everything that had transpired. Lana looked down at Dean’s gun, “You’re a genius,” she muttered to herself before setting it aside to get dressed.

They needed this, and she knew that Lily needed this even more than she did. There was a part of her that wanted to take Lily into the basement and make use of all of the Meckenzie family weapons down there, but for now, this was their thing. They didn’t need the boys involved to try and get in the way of Lily learning how to be a true hunter. Perhaps part of that was Sam wanting ‘normal’ again someday, but Lana didn’t think Lily should be as protected as the boys were making her.

Yes, Lana wanted Lily protected at all costs, but Lily was a part of this and if any of them truly expected her to survive when things got worse, she had to know how to flexibly _be a hunter_. Besides, Lana had been to plenty a gun range, and shooting a pistol was a good skill to have. Sneaking out the back door, Lana tugged her hair out of the back of her jacket and met Lily out back before she led her a little ways off.

“My mother used to take me out when I was a teenager,” Lana explained, laughing a little bit. “Yes, I’m aware we had two very different lives.”

Most mothers didn’t teach their children hunting skills all their life, but Lana had always felt like she’d had a pretty good balance, unlike the boys. John traveled from place to place with them constantly, but Florences had wanted her children to have education if that was what they wanted. She’d fallen into that mentality thanks to Mary, who wanted her kids out of it completely, but with what Florence had known about her daughter, being out of the hunting life completely, had _never_ been a viable option.

Some day, someone or something was going to find out about her, and eventually she was going to ask about herself, and Florence needed her to be able to protect herself. So, she had to teach her about ghosts and vampires and demons and all of that, and she had to let her have skills to use should she ever need them. At the same time, Lana actually liking hunting had always made Florence a little weary, but she also hadn’t seen a reason to keep her child locked up or anything.

Lana was pretty ‘normal’ other than her talents.

“I can’t honestly imagine growing up with this stuff. Monsters under your bed and demons in your closet,” Lily admitted, looking at Lana with a little smile. “I mean, weren’t you ever scared as a kid?”

Shrugging, Lana nodded. “Sometimes, but I also knew that my mother would protect me if she had to, and I guess I eventually was pretty sure that if something happened then _I_ could protect myself, and my family. I’m pretty mad still sometimes, that she lied all that time, but I get it? I mean, how do you tell your kid that she’s half demon? Half one of those things you warned her about?”

“I want that,” Lily admitted, quickly adding on, “that feeling that I can protect myself and my family. All I’ve got now is you guys, and I hate that I’m constantly left behind.”

“I know,” Lana admitted, handing Dean’s pistol over. “Which is why we’re doing this. You’re never going to learn and adapt if the boys don’t let you. That goes doubly for the two of us honing these skills we have…”

_That_ subject was a little more sensitive, just because neither of them knew what being psychic meant, and neither of them knew what would happen if Lana started using her demon given powers. However, if they kept warring with a part of themselves, that would be just as bad if not worse than just suppressing it all. It might make the Winchesters weary, but these women that they cared about were more than they appeared.

“I wouldn’t mind being able to control it more,” Lily said gently. “There is nothing worse than how overwhelming it feels sometimes.”

Lana nodded at that. “Well, you feel everyone else’s emotions mixed with your own. I wouldn’t be surprised if sometimes they overpower your own. I just...I don’t know if you saw him last night, but I saw my father. I know he has a plan for us, but I don’t know what it is. Whatever it is that I could do if I embraced it all, I want to know and I want to control it so he knows that _I_ make my choices. Not him.”

“You saw him too?” Lily asked slowly.

It was clear to Lana that whatever her father had said to Lily, it was enough to worry her, and that made Lana angry. He might be her biological flesh and blood, but he was _not_ her family. Sam, Dean and Lily were her family. Her mother and her sister and Bobby were her family. Hell, John fit in there somehow. When it came down to it, her father needed to die, and she reached for Lily’s hand, giving it a squeeze.

“You, Sam and Dean are my family, okay? No matter what happens or what he said, we will figure it out, and we will figure it out together,” Lana explained, taking a breath. “What did he say to you?”

Lily could not get the image of him standing over Sam out of her head. The way he felt so present, as if he’d always been there… 

“He said,” Lily thought hard. It’s not like he actually said all that much and yet he had a vice grip on her thoughts, “He said that Hell has big plans for me and Sam, that he didn’t want to break us up but that he’d be seeing us soon,” she admitted. A sense of relief washed over her to tell Lana about what she had seen, “Then he disappeared.”

Lana nodded, “Something’s cooking and I don’t like it,” she commented. Between that and what he had told her — Lana knew a storm was brewing and they had to be as ready as they could when it hit. She would not lose a single member of her family, “Alright…” Lana handed Lily Dean’s pistol when they’d reached a small clearing. There was an old woodpile across the way that had been there since Lana could remember. 

“Hold it like this,” Lana helped Lily place her palm and fingers at the correct points. The gun was big for the girl but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t be able to handle it, “Place her index finger here…” she guided Lily to the trigger guard, “…until you’re ready to shoot. It’ll kick back, but plant your feet and relax your shoulders.” 

“Okay,” Lily tried her best to follow Lana’s sage instructions. Her family had never been gun people — once her mother died her father never remarried. He dabbled in and out of alcoholism before he died on her 18th birthday; the hospital said it was a heart attack. 

“When you’re ready, breath out and gently press the trigger,” Lana took a step away from the girl. 

Lily pointed the barrel of the gun towards the woodpile. With a ‘now or never’ feeling, Lily pulled the trigger. The kick sent Lily back a step and dust flew up next to the wood pile. 

“Good,” Lana said. A part of her had been afraid the kick back would be too much but Lily handled it, “So next time aim a little higher, just above the place you’re aiming. The weight matters and you can anticipate it,” she helped Lily set up her shot again, placing her body back into a proper stance like a yoga instructor. 

Lily pulled the trigger again and a piece of wood in the pile exploded. Lily squealed with joy. 

“Awesome!” Lana laughed, “See? It’s not too bad. It’s a little different when a Shifter is charging you but it’s pulling that trigger all the same.” 

Lily began to set her stance for another shot but paused as she aimed the gun, “Uh…don’t tell Sam about this yet…?” 

Lana nodded. She would be having a talk with the boys soon but she had no reason to run in and tell Sam she was teaching Lily to shoot a pistol, “Scout’s honor.”

Lily smiled and lined up another shot. 

_Bang_. 

**The Meckenzie House**  
“Hey Sam, have you seen…” Dean walked down the hallway to the guest bedroom and pushed the door open with his palm.

Sam turned around. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and his shaggy hair hung wet around his face, “Huh?”

“Dude,” Dean held up a hand as if to not look ‘down’. 

“Lana’s right… you should learn to knock,” Sam shrugged.

Dean rolled his eyes, “Speaking of, have you seen those two?” 

Sam shook his head, “Think they went for a walk or something…that ‘girl talk’ thing.” 

Dean sighed, “Yeah, alright…but we should hit the road sooner or later…” he left Sam and meandered back to the kitchen for another piece of pie… when in Rome… 

He noted there was only a serving and a half left of the pie so he took the entire pie plate and grabbed a fork. That’s when the sliding glass door to the backyard opened and Lily and Lana returned, “You two talk about boys and unicorns?” Dean threw out with a smirk, dropping the pie plate onto the table. 

“Yep! Rainbows and puppies too,” Lily threw over her shoulder, heading straight for the guest bedroom so she could clean up. Once Lily was out of sight, Dean approached Lana, “You talk about me?” he placed his hands on her hips. 

“Maybe,” Lana shrugged with a smirk, “You’re a pretty _hot_ topic.” 

Dean chuckled while his hands slipped from her hips, feeling her up around her waist to her ass and then upwards. Dean pulled his gun from her waistband and held it between them with a questioning ‘gotcha’ look. 

Lana shrugged, “Girls need protection, mine was too far away,” she said, breaking free from him, “You know we should hit the road soon,” she tossed back, heading for the stairs to get herself in order. 

“I’m ready!” Dean answered to no one in particular. He tucked his gun away in the band of his pants and returned to his true love: pie at the table, “You’d never lie to me,” he said to the pie before taking a big bite. 

It took a couple hours to rally the entire group. Domestic bliss was great but they could not remain in Lawrence, not while YED was still out there cooking up some hellish plot to ruin all of their lives. The four climbed into the Impala and Dean was relieved to put his home town in his rearview. 

“So, Holland…like Netherlands?” Lana asked, looking over the map as they set a course for Michigan. 

“No, I mean,” Lily laughed, “They do have a tulip festival every year… and an old windmill,” she explained. 

“Any leggy blondes?” Dean threw a look in his mirror at Lily but it received a sharp SWAT on his arm from Lana. 

“Ow!” Dean exclaimed but he couldn’t help but laugh, “I’m just kidding…” he said, but his look read: _kinda_.

“Dean…it’s Michigan…” Lily returned.

“So…no?” Dean sought confirmation. 

“You’re hopeless,” Lana sighed. She turned to Lily with a desire to be off of the topic of blonde European women, “What happened to your old house?” 

“Our first house burned down when… well you know,” Lily had no need to expand with this particular group, “But the house I grew up in is still in our family. It got caught up in all this crazy legal crap when my Dad died. It had been my grandmother’s house and we went to live with her when it happened… then when she died my Dad inherited the house. I told my family I wasn’t coming back but my aunt couldn’t bear to see it go so she lives there with her second husband like half the year,” she thought hard, “Last time I checked in with her most of our old stuff is still there… she’s….sentimental and pretty much the only family I have left.” 

Lily did not know her aunt well but she was older, she had been much older than her father and apparently lived in the home during the summer with her husband. However, from what Lily could glean they also traveled a lot in addition to spending half the year in Michigan and half the year in Florida, “I don’t even think she’ll be there when we get there.”

“Well that works out,” Dean said. Lana gave him a _look_ : this was Lily’s _family_. Dean caught her look and defended himself, “I’m just saying….older chicks really dig me… wouldn’t want things to get complicated.” He winked.

Despite herself, Lana broke a smile, “Yeah, yeah… she can _have_ you.”

“So no cat fight?” Dean teased, chuckling to himself.

“You seem to not know who you have landed,” Lana responded, giving him a ‘try me’ smile.

When the two got going, it was hard not to laugh, even when Sam was rolling his eyes at them. Lana was more interested in what this was all going to mean for Lily, and changed the subject pretty quick. There was a house with lots of old things in it for Lily to go through, and a whole past to face. Facing your past was pretty rough, Lana knew from experience, and the boys had literally just gone through it. It was time to be there for Lily, not bicker with Dean--not that she could help the latter.

They were good at bickering.

“I don’t blame you for not going back,” Lana explained slowly. “Death is a rough thing to move past, especially when it’s someone we love. We all defer to you this time around: that means _you_ , Dean.”

Okay, so there was no way at all to stop the bickering.

“Hey...I take orders,” Dean told her, shaking his head.

“Maybe from your father,” Lana responded with a laugh.

Dean shot her a look. “I’m sorry, Miss Bossy, but you know from _personal experience_ that I follow directions incredibly well and with _great satisfaction_ from my partner.”

She wished she had a better comeback for that, but instead she closed her mouth and crossed her arms over her chest, Sam speaking up to change the subject. He really hadn’t needed to know that, but he knew that he couldn’t put that past Dean at all to be like this. Especially when it meant making Lana eat her own words, which she seemed to be doing as she pouted in her seat.

“None of us needed to know that,” Sam laughed, shaking his head.

Lana chewed on her lip. “Besides, who says it’s _great_ satisfaction?”

“Oh no. You didn’t say it fast enough so that comeback doesn’t count,” Dean clicked his tongue.

“Comebacks _always_ count,” Lana protested, but Dean wasn’t having it.

At least for a moment or two, Lily could focus on something other than having to go back to her old house, especially since it was going to be practically a 12 hour drive there, not counting rest stops, which were going to be a must. Dean and Lily wanted snacks, they were going to need to stop to pee and such, and Lana was trying to convince Dean that he just didn’t need to drive the whole time.

**8 Hours Later**  
There had been at least two naps taken, but it was time to make a pit stop for some gas. Lana got out of the Impala, heading into the gas station with Lily, both of them looking for some food to eat in the car. Lana also wanted coffee, and while she would rather go to a place that was an actual shop, this was the next best thing. When they got into the gas station, Lily immediately went to grab snacks, and Lana perused the bottled coffees before the salesman wandered over to her and asked if he could help her with anything.

She didn’t, but after Dean’s comment in the car, she decided to milk the moment and flirt just a little bit. The young man wasn’t unattractive, and they talked about how his family owned the gas station, and he’d fallen into the family business, but had just started back at school. Lily shook her head at her as she came up with arms full of snacks, and once everything was paid for, they headed back to the car, where Lily set the bags in the back and Lana rested the receipt on the hood of the car dramatically for Dean to see.

“Did you just come out with a _phone number_?” Dean asked her, giving her a look.

Lana shrugged her shoulders. “I can’t help it. Men really dig me.”

“I think she wins this one,” Sam laughed, getting into the backseat with Lily.

“Does she? Because I think it’s Sam’s turn to drive then,” Dean replied, giving Lana a look.

They had now entered into the territory of competition, but Sam didn’t want to drive, he wanted to sit in the back with Lily and answer some emails. Dean needed a nap, and he knew it was dangerous to drive when he was tired, so he made a face and walked around the car to Lana, reaching for her hips to tug her closer. She knew what he was doing, even as she slipped her arms around his shoulders.

“You know exactly what the price of driving is,” he said softly, usually trying to avoid PDA but this was marking his territory since the guy in the gas station could see out into the lot.

Lana shook her head at him and smiled. “Save it for a leggy blonde. Keys, please,” she prompted as she took a step back and then held both of her hands out in front of him.

“You’re really not going to?” he asked her, sighing when she shook her head again. “Fine, then you can warm up your own feet tonight.”

“Yeah, like _that’s_ gonna happen,” Lana laughed after he set the keys in her hand, putting them behind her back when he made a move for them at her comment. “Nope. I’m not letting you crash your baby because you’re too tired to drive. You’re sitting shotgun and you’re in time out.”

Dean made a sour face but climbed into the car, Lana pocketing the receipt--so she wasn’t littering, she’d throw it away when they got to their destination--and then climbing into the driver’s seat. They still had about 4 hours to go, and Lana pulled them out onto the road, turning the music down, but leaving it on Dean’s choice as he rested his eyes. Her keeping his music on made him smile a little as he closed his eyes, Lily smiling a bit to herself too as Sam ran his fingers through her hair.

“I am going out on a limb and saying that the price of driving was a kiss she’s too upset to give, huh? Didn’t know you were such a softie, Dean-o,” Lily teased, laughing when he opened an eye and narrowed it at her.

Everyone in the car knew that Dean was a softie, he just didn’t show it to anyone that wasn’t his family, and now Lily was teasing. It was the exact thing that he had known was going to happen, and yet he had hoped she’d somehow forget to say anything. That had been a hope that wasn’t about to come true, and Sam blocked Dean when he reached out to poke Lily, shaking his head at him.

“No poking my lady,” Sam told his brother, shaking his head. “Lan, he’s being rude.”

Lana laughed, and reached over to rest her hand on Dean’s thigh. “Sleep, baby. We only tease because we care.”

“You guys sure show it,” Dean rolled his eyes, but his hand rested on Lana’s and their fingers interlaced. It was a simple gesture, but Lana smiled fondly as Dean closed his eyes again. “When we get to Lily’s, I’m going to get all of you back.”

“Yes, we’re very scared,” Lana responded with the tilt of her head, watching the road now.

“You should be,” Dean mumbled, bringing Lana’s hand up to his mouth to press a gentle kiss, and then everyone in the car let him take a much needed nap.

It was peaceful again once Dean fell asleep. Lana found the last length of the drive relaxing, even making sure to take the stretch of highway next to Lake Michigan as the sun was setting. Lily had come to rest her arms on the seat before her and navigate Lana the last few miles into town. It was quaint: quintessential midwestern. Finally, the Impala turned into an empty driveway. The quiet two-story home remained unlit. A small bank of trees gave it semi-privacy from the nearest neighbors. The lawn was manicured so Lily knew her aunt had kept her word. Then, Lily felt Sam’s hand brace her lower back, “Are you ready?” 

Lily nodded, although it was more of a ‘ _ready or not_ ’ vibe because ready or not: there was no way she was sleeping in the Impala. 

“Dean,” Lana nudged the man out cold next to her.

“Huh? Yeah?” he awoke, trying to come to as quickly as he could but his sleep had been deep and well-warranted.

“We’re here,” Lana informed him, turning her head over her shoulder to Lily, “Whenever you’re ready.” she told the girl gently. Of the four of them, Lily was the most distanced from her past therefore she had the most to heal from and Lana did not know what to expect. 

Lily stepped from the Impala and the rest of the group extracted themselves, stretching and hanging back a step or two. Lana couldn’t help but think there was a strange similarity to the house itself and her own childhood home and the old Winchester house. Classic Americana with a deep wound hidden within. 

Lily pulled a key from a porch-side hiding spot and they were let inside. 

The home was deathly quiet. Lily flipped on the nearest light. Some things had changed since she’d been there last over ten years before: some furniture had been updated, small touches of a woman in art, fake florals, and a well-armed kitchen. Yet the bones were all the same: the wall colors, the carpet, the kitchen table. Lily was just grateful the armchair (her Dad’s favorite) was gone — that’s where they found him. 

“Want me to go get some food? You’ve only had Cheetos in the past like six hours,” Lana gave the girl a smile. She noted how Sam hovered next to her, his hand on her hip, as if bracing for something to jump out and try to attack her. 

Lily gave her a smile, “Not really hungry, besides… we have some Cheetos left.”

“Uh…” Dean spoke up with a guilty face. There were no Cheetos left. 

“Dean,” Lana started, pressing herself into the man she looked into his pretty face, “Why don’t you go back down to the main drag and get us some food?” Lana held his keys between them. Lana figured one less person waiting on bated breath around Lily might help her ease in, “Something really yummy.” 

Dean accepted the keys without argument, “Yeah, alright.” They shared a kiss and then broke apart, “But I won’t hear any complaints about what I bring back!” Dean called but a moment later he was gone. 

“I think you two can stay in my Dad — in the master bedroom. Here, I’ll show you,” Lily took Lana’s hand and led her up the stairs with Sam following behind. Lily felt herself on autopilot, all the twists and turns, the five and a half exact steps to her parents old bedroom. She flicked on the light. Her aunt had changed the bedding and decor but it was still unmistakable, “Smells good,” Lily noted the scent of florals. 

“Good, because until Dean takes a shower…” she smirked and both Lily and Sam couldn’t help but laugh.

“There’s a shower through there,” she pointed to a door across the room, “Bathroom en suite… like a honeymoon suite,” she joked.

“Guess I should tell Dean to pick up some chocolate covered strawberries,” Lana teased.

“Yum,” Lily replied, finally realizing that she was actually really hungry. 

“I’m going to get our bags, go — show Sam around… make out, maybe. Don’t worry about me,” Lana smiled.

Lily always felt grounded around Lana and was grateful to have her friend with her. However, she had to face it sooner or later so she took Sam’s hand and they headed down the hallway in the opposite direction to a closed door where there were Lisa Frank stickers long fused to the wood. 

It was strange, having Sam in her old bedroom. It was a time capsule to herself at 17; a mix of childhood and teenage years all in one. The bed was small but they’d manage. Old pictures of Lily and her high school friends littered the walls and Sam could not help but look over a collage of them on her mirror. A young Lily smiled back at him in pure joy and innocence. If only Sam could give that back to her…

“Oh, what’s this?” Sam, in an attempt to lighten the mood, plucked a photo from the mirror and turned to show her. She was decked out in black, heavy eyeliner and fingerless gloves. 

“My goth phase….” she replied in mock-defense, “Every girl had one,” she explained, knowing Sam didn’t attend school like she had. He was never around long enough to witness phases, “Don’t show Dean,” she added quickly. 

Sam put it back into place before he placed his hands in her hair, holding her body close to his, “Never,” he promised before leaning in to give her a soft kiss. 

Lily held his hips and realized that he was keeping her steady. She had vowed never to return home but she knew after being in Lawrence that this was something she had to do — some things had to be unearthed and others had to be put to bed otherwise she would never fully be able to move on and understand her part in all of this. 

They kissed for a long moment. Lana could be heard across the house bringing in several large duffel bags, some of which likely weighed more than herself. But when the tell-tale sound of the Impala pulled into the driveway, the couple managed to break apart. 

“You hungry?” Sam asked, rubbing her arms, “I’m pretty sure whatever Dean brought back is super greasy…” he teased.

“You mean delicious,” Lily returned. As they made way for the door Lily noted a stack of papers on her desk. Seemed to be old mail that her aunt kept for her, old papers found around the home, even one envelope merely labeled “ _Lily_ ” in her Dad’s own hand. Lily held it for a moment and when she did she was gripped by a tidal wave of love and sadness. Instantly she dropped it. 

“What is it?” Sam asked from the hallway, realizing she was no longer behind him.

“Nothing,” Lily gave a smile. That letter…that was later. Now was food. She hurried into the hallway, “Lets go clog some arteries.” 

“I swear one day I’m going to get you to eat a salad.” 

“Not a chance, Sam Winchester…” 

**Harte Family Dining Room**  
The food had gone quick; seems none of them had taken much care of eating on their journey from Lawrence to Holland. 

“Lily I think you were right… I drove that main drag and not _one_ leggy blonde,” Dean mocked disappointment, “You sure your aunt’s not coming by?” He threw a teasing look to Lana.

“No, keep it up,” Lana smirked, “Sam,” she turned her attention to the tall man next to her, “Has Dean ever been stabbed by a fork?”

Sam legitimately considered for a moment, “Not that I know of… There’s been knives, swords, razors, screw drivers, but uh— no forks.” 

Lana smirked at Dean, “Always time for a first.” 

Dean was nonplussed, “Keep on dreamin’, Lanni,” he said before taking a large bite and proceeding to talk with his mouth full, “But I promised to get you all back and I’m a man of my word.” 

“Uh-huh,” Lana waved him off, stealing one of the last french fries. 

“I think I’m going to go upstairs,” Lily announced, “I have a feeling that for once, I’ll be the one up early.”

“That’s fine, I was probably going to go for a jog…” Lana offered, “Maybe after I can grab us some real coffee.”

Lily agreed enthusiastically. However, since she was leaving the table, Sam resigned to leave with her. Dean and Lana were left at the table. 

**Lily’s Old Bedroom**  
Sam had started shrugging out of his button up when he realized Lily wasn’t readying herself for bed. She had pried open her bedroom window and then crawled through it.

“Lily?!” Sam followed over. Lily was taking a seat on the slightly slanted roof shingles. She patted the spot next to her. With only minor giant-man difficulties, Sam followed her and took a seat next to her on the roof. The night was cool but nice. The street was quiet, very few passing cars to interrupt the sound of crickets. 

“Spend a lot of time out here?” he asked her.

Lily nodded, “Yeah,” she replied, “Probably the spot I missed the most, “she admitted, resting her head on his shoulder. They laid back and were able to see a smattering of stars. Silence fell between them only long enough for Lily to find her words, “There’s a letter from my Dad in there,” she admitted, “When I touched it I could — I think it’s really important,” she breathed. 

“Then you should read it,” he urged her gently. 

“I will, but not tonight… tonight I just want… _this_. Another perfect memory here.”

Sam understood that, wanting to make things as easy on Lily as he could. He knew better than anyone how she got when she was overwhelmed, and he just wanted to be here for her while she went through all of this. From personal experience he knew how these feelings could linger and fester, and he wanted to make things as easy as he could for the woman that he loved.

Kissing her head he smiled. “We can do that.”

**Harte Dining Room**  
Lana was mostly still at the table because Dean was finishing eating, and she smiled a little as he finished, wondering how it had gotten here. Sure, she and Dean had tiptoed around this for quite a while, even before having to be together for long periods of time, but this was different. This was so _domestic_ , and she hadn’t really thought that Dean would ever settle this much without feeling restless, but here he was.

“You’re staring,” Dean pointed out, raising his eyebrows at her.

Lana shrugged and stood from her chair. “You were worth staring at for a moment.”

That said, she gathered all the dishes and headed into the kitchen, rolling up her sleeves and washing them the old fashioned way. After a moment or two, Dean followed, giving her hip a little bump with his own and they both shared a smile before he helped her with the dishes. He couldn’t even remember the last time he was this calm when it came down to being in between a job.

“You don’t have to help me, you know? I actually thought that you were more likely to make a joke and dip out,” Lana laughed, handing him a dish to dry.

Dean shrugged his shoulders. “Figured I should help. Lily doesn’t need anymore stress than she’s got right now. It is our job to help.”

“That is very _mature_ of you,” Lana told him, shaking her head. “So she gets you in good with her aunt?”

He chuckled, but leaned over and kissed her temple. “I said older women dig me, I didn’t say I dig older women. I mean time and a place, but…”

She elbowed him at the last bit, but she laughed when he did. “So, you’re warming up my feet tonight? Because otherwise you’re on the couch.”

“I mean...if you warm me up too,” he whispered, wiggling his eyebrows.

Lana laughed, but she dried her hands, laughing a little more as he followed her to the master bedroom, their lips colliding happily. This was definitely new, but it was a fun kind of new, but Dean was confused when his hands went to her shirt to try to tug it off, and she pulled out of the kiss.

“What?” he asked her, honestly confused.

Lana pointed to the bed. “Is it bad form to do this in her dad’s old room?”

Dean wanted to just blurt out that it was fine, they were fine, but he did pause for a moment to think that over. This was Lily’s old house and she was in an emotional state, and should he and Lana mess around in Lily’s dead father’s old bedroom? Probably not, but he was already in the mood and a little revved, so he ended up shaking his head and kissing her again.

“It’s fine. We’re fine,” he told her, tugging her shirt off and then tossing it onto the floor.

She nodded, undoing his belt. “Alright, but if Lily gets mad I’m blaming you.”

“I can take it,” he responded with a smile, hands on her hips, lifting her up to wrap her legs around him for a moment. “I can take just about anything.”

“Good,” she laughed, kissing him again. “Then I think it’s my turn to lead...”

**The Next Morning**  
It was odd to be the first one up that morning, but it was the house that was making it hard for Lily to even get a good night’s sleep in the first place. At least she had gotten to sleep in Sam’s arm for whatever time her eyelids had closed, and she looked up when she was joined in the kitchen by Lana.

“I need coffee,” she announced, shaking her hair a little bit, and then yawning. “I was going to go for a jog, but I’m far too exhausted.”

Lily smiled a little at that. “Oh are you? I wonder what would have exhausted you enough for you to not actually want to go jogging this morning.”

“I mean it counts as a workout,” Lana blushed, shrugging her shoulders. “How did _you_ do last night?”

Lily was happy Lana and Dean had some time to be with one another. Sometimes this life didn’t leave much time for anything good.

“It’s nice having a room to ourselves so much but I’m pretty sure it’s not going to last, yeah?” Lily dropped her shoulders, her mug between her hands. 

Lana shrugged as she poured herself a cup, “We’ll do our best,” she couldn’t make any promises but every now and again there had to be a compromise for all four of them to remain sane. 

“So, what’s that?” Lana took a seat at the table, catching a glimpse of an envelope in front of Lily with her name on it. 

“A letter from my Dad,” Lily admitted, “I didn’t know he’d left me anything... I don’t know when he wrote it,” she played with the envelope between her fingers. 

Lana sipped her coffee as a silence fell between them, “Do you want me to be here? When you read it?” She asked gently. 

“Yeah,” Lily nodded. She knew that reading it alone was no use — everyone would find out what was in the letter anyway. Maybe it would be easier to read if someone was there; besides, it could be anything at all... however by the feeling she got from the letter she knew it wasn’t inconsequential. 

“Take your time. We came here for you... we’ll stay as long as we need to,” Lana offered. She knew Dean would be itching to get a case soon but this was something they all needed. 

“No use putting it off any longer... it was all I could think about last night, didn’t really sleep,” Lily admitted as she tore open the envelope and withdrew a handwritten letter. It read:

_My Dearest Lily,_

_I know I should have written this a long time ago but the time was never right. Now you’re almost 18 and you’re not my little girl any more._

_I hope you were happy. I know with your Mom being gone it must have been hard for you. I did the best I could to keep you safe. There’s more than meets the eye to the world. The monsters under your bed are real. I learned that’s what took your mother and started the fire. They wanted you but the monsters can’t have you, sweetheart. That’s why I must leave you. I was young, I was scared... so I made a deal. You were protected, shielded from evil until your 18th birthday. In exchange I must go. But do not worry, I would make the same choice again and again if it meant your safety._

_You’re going to Stanford and I am so proud of you. You will be safe if you keep moving and keep your eyes open. Always know how much I love you and how much your mom loved you. If the monsters are real then I faith we’ll meet again one day._

_With All My Love,_

_Your Dad_

Lily felt the hot tears staining her face. She could hear her Dad’s voice again as she read the letter to herself. Half way through, Lana had placed herself next to Lily and put her hand on her leg. Finally, Lily set the paper aside and when Lana caught her eye she felt a stabbing pain in her chest. The hurt in Lily’s eyes was piercing and Lana somehow knew that this was inevitable upon her return. 

Before Lily could say anything, Sam entered the kitchen. He paused, looking from woman to woman, “What’s wrong?”

Lana took a breath, “I’m not sure but,” Lana stood up, figuratively passing the baton to Sam, “I think you can tag in,” she placed her hand on Sam’s chest for a moment, giving it a gentle rub, “I’ll be back down soon.”

Lana disappeared a moment later and Sam took her vacated seat, “Hey...” he began gently, leaning forward and running his fingers over the side of her tear stained face, “You read it?” He glanced at the letter open on the table.

“He—“ Lily sniffed, trying to steady her voice, “He died because of me.”

“Wait, what?” Sam asked, “Why would you say something like that?” 

“It’s true...he made a deal Sam... he found out who Azazel was and made a deal to protect me,” Lily’s voice broke. She could barely see him through the tears in her eyes, “Both of them...both of my parents...”

Sam pulled her into his lap and held her tightly, “Shhh, Lily... it’s not your fault. I promise you, okay? You can’t think like that,” he secured his arms around her, running a hand through her hair. 

“Sam...how could I never know? He wrote this letter ten years ago and I just left and I never—“ Lily cried.

“Shh... it’s okay. Your Dad would be happy to know you’re back now...and that you’re safe...” he tried. He knew what it was like to feel guilty over the death of one parent: but two? How could he truly comfort her in this? Well, however he could he would do his damndest to take her pain away.


	12. Emotional Hurdles

**Upstairs**  
Dean was coming out of the master bedroom with a whistle when he nearly ran into Lana coming in, “Ooo, come back for a little morning nookie?” He smirked. Lana pushed him back into the room and closed the door behind them. His face lit up with excitement but she shook her head and his look darkened with disappointment, “Oh come on...” 

“Dean,” Lana said sternly, “It’s Lily...”

Dean’s posture changed immediately, his body shifting into defense mode, “What? What is it?” He asked with urgency. 

“She found a letter from her father and... look I don’t know what was in it but I think she’s learned something and it’s big.” Lana took a seat on the edge of the bed again. 

Dean glanced at the door then back to her. His face descended into a small pout, “But...I’m so hungry...”

“Dean,” Lana warned. But it was just Dean’s defense mechanism. He couldn’t protect Lily right now so joking was all he had. He took a seat next to her on the bed, “So uh...we just wait?”

Lana nodded, “Yeah... we wait.”

It wasn’t exactly what she wanted to do, but she knew that Lily needed to have some space and if anyone was best equipped to look after her, it was definitely Sam. He had been with her long enough and been through enough with her that he understood, and Lana wanted her to feel comfortable. Something was wrong, and Lana didn’t know what, but she glanced at Dean and smiled.

“You know if we had time, we could definitely make the moment count but until then, maybe we should figure out what we want to do next?” Lana asked slowly, shrugging her shoulders.

Dean smiled back. “That I can do.”

He was a lot better at dealing with hunts than he was at dealing with feelings, but even he had to admit that he was getting better at it. It was only because these people with him meant more to him than anyone else, and he didn’t want them to be sad or scared. Even if they were each other’s weak spots, he desperately wanted to make sure that moving forward, they were all on the same page.

“Something preferably maybe not a ghost?” Lana asked, laughing a little. “The last ghost job…”

Nodding, Dean took a breath. “It was hard.”

“I know it was,” Lana replied, reaching out to cup his face. “Can we talk about it?”

Even though a part of him really didn’t want to, he knew that if anyone understood it was going to be Lana. Where Sam and Lily got each other, Lana got him, and even if Mary wasn’t her mother, their mother had been friends. He’d gone through her photo albums when they were in her house, and he had some questions too. While they were waiting for the other two, perhaps it _would_ be good to hash it out.

“Seeing her was just hard,” Dean told her, reaching up with his hand to hold hers and then turn his head to kiss her palm. “I haven’t seen her, except in pictures, since I was four. Then she sacrificed her own spirit for us, just to take out the poltergeist.”

Lana nodded, running her thumb along his jaw. “Yeah, and I can’t even imagine it. I lost Alan when I was 3--but I just remember fear. I don’t remember him. I never had a Dad to remember, but I’ve always had my mother. I don’t know what it feels like, but I will always shoulder the burden no matter what you need. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Stuck with me for the long haul?” Dean chuckled, but he smiled at her happily. “I do appreciate it.”

“Well, I’m not _stuck_. I am actually pretty happy knowing you’re by my side,” Lana admitted with a shrug. “Sappy, sure, but honestly? I prefer all of this to being alone.”

Dean knew _exactly_ what she meant, and he leaned in to capture her lips with his own, smiling when Lana started to giggle. She laid back on the bed even though she was protesting, and he smirked at her and pressed kisses to her jaw and then to her neck. For a moment she started to just talk about how they should do some kind of easy hunt that was straight up just monster hunting, and then she gasped as she felt him nip at her neck. Oh, so while they waited, since she was saying ‘no’ to sex at the moment, he was giving her a hickey. She didn’t at all mind being claimed, but it was not the time nor the place.

“So you’re trying to change the subject in the next best way?” she asked, laughing when he nipped at her skin and then pulled back to look her in the eye. “What?”

Dean stroked her hair and shrugged as he smiled. “Nothing, just...I’m glad Lily and Sammy have you watching their back too. If anything happened to me, I know you’d take care of them.”

“I’m not letting anything happen to you, so…” Lana responded, smiling when Dean kissed her tenderly. “Let’s go check on Sam and Lily, okay? But no jokes. She was really upset.”

Nodding, they both got up, Dean chuckling at his handiwork on her neck, which made Lana poke him in the side. That only made him laugh more and she had to hush him before they headed down the stairs and made their way back into the kitchen. Sam had done his best to calm Lily down, but she was clearly still distraught, and Lana’s arms found their way around her.

Kissing the top of Lily’s head, Lana nodded. “We wanted to give you a little space, but do you want to talk about it? Is there anything we can do? Because you’ve got us. You’ve always got us.”

“Until I bite the big one, Munchkin, you can always count on me,” Dean promised, moving to get some coffee since Lana was hogging Lily for the moment. “Me, Bossy Pants and the Giant don’t go anywhere and when we do, we go with you.”

“I love that I’m ‘Bossy Pants’,” Lana laughed, shaking her head. “Actually I don’t. Give me a new nickname.”

Sam laughed then. “That order only makes it stick better.”

For the first time, when everyone piled into a room together — Lily could feel her own emotions first. Everyone else was calm and guarded, tiptoeing around her. She still had her issues about being coddled but for this one occasion _maybe_ it was okay. 

Lily held tight to Lana but addressed Dean, “You’re not biting any big ones,” she warned, her voice quiet and hoarse from crying, “It’s not funny.” 

Lana kissed her forehead, “You’re right, it’s not,” she gave a pointed look at Dean but she couldn’t help but smirk. Okay, maybe she _was_ Bossy Pants. They’d all had to delve into the deaths of their parents, their loved ones, and their twisted past that connected them all this week — maybe a moratorium on death talk for a bit wouldn’t be such a bad thing. 

Lily looked up to Lana to thank her for agreeing when she noticed through her bleary eyes something dark and reddened on Lana’s neck. 

Dean was in the fridge, coffee in one hand, his other pulling out pieces of left-overs and eating them right at the fridge door. 

“Dude,” Sam looked over, arms out in a ‘what are you doing’ sort of look. 

Dean shrugged and motioned to Lily and back as if that made it okay. 

Lily eyed Lana then glanced over to Dean, “I’m glad you two aren’t hiding any more,” she said, unable to find a joke about the hickey, her mind too bogged down in her recent discovery. 

“Me too,” Lana admitted, “I’m gonna make us cups of coffee,” she slowly released Lily to attend the coffee pot. 

“Where are we going next?” Lily asked, happy for a momentary distraction as she attempted to swallow and process her Dad’s letter bomb. With little warning she slid back into Sam’s lap, fitting like the perfect puzzle piece against his chest. 

“We’re thinking monsters,” Lana said with strange enthusiasm about facing real-life monsters. “Something flesh and blood and gross that we can kill and move on,” she returned to the table with two steaming hot cups of coffee. 

Lily was grateful to have something to do with her hands and it smelled delicious, “Like a Wendigo?” 

Sam squeezed her around her waist, “Sure, but I hope nothing as deep into the woods,” he said, “That got a little hairy.”

“I thought wendigos were hairless,” Lana muttered thoughtfully into her cup. 

“You know what I mean,” Sam returned with a smile.

“It wasn’t all bad. Sammy finally found something as freakishly tall as him,” Dean smirked. Okay, so he couldn’t stop joking for long — character flaw, sue him. Dean gave a half shrug to Lana as they figure out how to navigate around Lily this morning. Lana couldn’t be mad at his joke — it made Lily laugh. 

“You’re not freakish,” Lily muttered, closing her eyes as she rested her head against Sam’s shoulder.

“Thanks,” Sam smirked, “At least someone here appreciates me.”

“I don’t think it counts if they’re fun sized,” Dean joined the table of his family once he was done eating out of the refrigerator like a raccoon in a trashcan. 

“It counts,” Lana jumped in, “I appreciate you Sam,” she finished, “Don’t worry.” 

“See?” Sam looked down the table at his brother. 

“Yeah, but, who do you think she appreciates _more_?” he raised his eyebrows suggestively. 

“Oh my God,” Lana’s eyes widened. 

Dean chuckled into his next sip of coffee. Check mate. 

**Later in the Day**  
Lily allowed Lana and Dean to read her Dad’s letter. Lily and Sam had disappeared into her room where Lily wanted to choose a few hand-picked mementos to carry with her since she knew she could never return to this house again. 

“That’s heavy stuff,” Dean handed Lana the letter back when he’d finished reading, “Man, he knew all that time and he didn’t tell her…” 

“Would you?” Lana asked. How did you tell someone you made a literal deal with the devil and had a ticking clock on your life because of them? It didn’t exactly pair well over coffee and scones.

“Of course I would,” Dean replied defensively. 

“Mm, okay,” Lana folded up the letter and slipped it back into its envelope for Lily. 

“You doubt me?” he asked, his arm snaking around her shoulders.

“No, it’s just,” Lana paused to gather her words, “You know, family is complicated. Our parents didn’t tell us everything…Lily wasn’t even eighteen yet, if he’d told her — she wouldn’t have gone off to college or done anything she needed to do for herself.”

“Maybe,” Dean considered, “But now that she knows, all that guilt she must feel? I don’t think she’s big enough to hold it all.” 

“That’s why she has us to help,” Lana said surely. If anyone understood — it was them. 

“Yeah, yeah she does,” Dean kissed Lana’s temple, taking in the last few calm moments. As nice as they were, he would be glad to throw himself back into the distractions of a simple case. 

**Upstairs**  
Lily filled a small box with a couple photos and mementos as Sam packed their bag. Finally she snapped the lid shut and handed Sam the small tin box so he could tuck it away in their bag. 

“Where do you think we’ll go next?” she asked, making her bed for the last time. 

“Hard to say, could be anywhere,” Sam replied, “Unfortunately there’s no shortage of monsters to hunt.”

“Or we’d be out of a job,” she added.

Sam laughed, “Yeah...” he knew it wouldn’t be the worst thing — to leave the life and find some normalcy. Maybe a picket fence and a dog to boot. However, now was not the time to discuss ‘could-be’s’. 

A knock sounded on Lily’s door that drew their attention, “Yeah?” 

Lana appeared, “Got a text from Bobby,” she said, leaning her form against the frame of the door, “Thinks he’s got something out in Nebraska if we’re interested.”

“Dean want in?” Sam asked. He deferred to Dean for cases like this. Lana gave a nod, “Yeah, he thinks it’s just what we need. It’s like a 12 hour drive though so we should really be sure we’re ready to go,” she added. 

Sam and Lana looked to Lily. 

Lily knew it would be too painful to visit her old haunts, to risk connecting again to a place that had to be buried in her past. Lily nodded, “Yeah. I think I found what I needed here,” she said surely. The pull had weakened ever since she found the letter: the truth she needed to find was uncovered. 

Suddenly, the three jumped when a raspy voice sounded from the hallway. It was like heavy breathing mixed with radio static. Lana, tense with a hand at her hip looked around for danger. 

That was until the voice continued, “Lana…” it said in the raspy tone, “…I am your Daddy…” 

Lana looked to the other two in stunned confusion. 

Lily tried to bite her lip to stifle her laugh, the first feeling of joy she’d found since she’d stepped foot into the house, “Uh — I think Dean found the old intercom.” she explained. 

“Clean up on aisle 12. Sam Winchester peed the bed again,” the intercom voice continued this time in a clean, professional grocery store clerk imitation. The girls laughed and even Sam had to admit, Dean had some serious comedic timing.

At least Dean was finding amusement in the little things, and if Lily didn’t want to go and look around the town, then it was up to her. She had found out the truth about something pretty big in her life, and it made Lana wonder how this was going to factor into things later on. After all, that guilt wasn’t just going to go away that she was feeling. She was going to hold onto it just like the rest of them did.

So, gathering up Dean and then making sure they took all of their things with them and left the house as tidy as it had been when they got there, Lana ushered them into the car. A hunt would get all of their minds off of things, and Dean seemed more excited than he had been before. They were all trying to figure out what it was that they were going to hunt, Lana chewing on a fingernail.

“Are you anxious?” Dean asked, glancing at her.

Lana was confused for a second, but then realized what she was doing. “No...I mean...I don’t know. This isn’t a lot to go off of at all.”

“But it also seems like a monster,” Sam pointed out.

He also kind of wanted to stick to the monster thing, only because they were all feeling the ghosts and the death. While you couldn’t avoid any of that in their line of work, it was nice to mix things up. At the same time, you couldn’t really be any kind of normal or well adjusted given what they did in their daily lives, so how did it matter?

“Monster or no monster, it is still driving in a car again for twelve hours,” Lily pointed out to them. “We need proper snacks and a gas break and all of that.”

Dean smiled at her. “It also means more music.”

The whole car groaned, which made Dean make a face, but he also knew he forced his music on all of them rather constantly. At the same time, ‘driver picks the music, shotgun shuts their cakehole’, so he felt justified in the actions he was taking. Besides, it was better than sitting in silence, or over sharing and caring about things--that just got awkward at the worst of times.

“Lily, is my duffel easily accessible?” Lana asked suddenly.

Lily nodded and reached for it. “What do you need?”

“My makeup bag,” she responded with a sigh as she looked at her reflection in the car window. “Caveman over here left a mark and I need it covered up. It doesn’t really scream professionalism.”

“It isn’t supposed to,” Dean laughed, shaking his head. “It screams ‘taken’.”

Lana shot him a look as the other two laughed from the backseat, but Lily handed Lana what she needed and then Sam decided to try and talk. He was always more of the ‘care and share’ type, and he wanted to air everything out before they got deep into this next hunt. It was easier to just shove things down as far as they could go, but it wasn’t healthy and if this was demon related, then they needed to talk about it.

"I just want to say that I'm glad we are all here. We have been dealing with a lot of things that aren't exactly what I would call 'normal'. Not that our lives are normal by any stretch of the imagination, but still." Sam shrugged looking around at them all. "At least this is a constant: the four of us."

Dean nodded, but felt it was a bit much. "We're a good team."

Lily and Lana shook their heads at him because they got that it was hard for him, but they settled into a slightly better silence after a few more moments. For just a little while, the focus was on something good that they could do for someone else.

**6 Hours Later**  
They had only gotten halfway through the drive when they had to stop for gas. Lana was surprised that they had made it this far, but she got out of the car to stretch her legs, Lily too. Sam was still going over possibilities, but even he was feeling a little researched out.

"If you want snacks, now is the time," Sam announced, getting out and reaching for Lily’s hand. "I'll go with you this time."

Lily's face lit up, which made Lana smile, and she just nodded and stayed out by the gas pump with Dean. He noted that Sam and Lily were headed into the gas station, and then smiled when Lana sidled up to him and rested her chin on his shoulder. Leaning over he pressed a kiss to her head and then laughed.

"You let them go for an ulterior motive," he wiggled his eyebrows, making a face when she poked him. "You did."

Lana shook her head. "Sam wanted to go in with her, so I let her have him all to herself. Having you to myself for like five minutes is just a bonus. Besides, we should probably share a room when we get into Nebraska. We all need the physical moral support."

"That means the backseat or the shower," Dean mused, laughing when Lana looked up at him surprised and then blushed. "I mean I'm right."

She rolled her eyes playfully, letting him finish pumping gas in peace while Sam and Lily wandered down the aisles inside. They started off hand in hand, but soon Lily was grabbing a bunch of food items to keep her occupied during the rest of the drive. Maybe they could convince the other two to take the backseat and Sam could relieve Dean of the driving.

“Oh, alright!” Dean grabbed a bag of beef jerky from Lily’s very full paper-bag-o-snacks. 

“You know, I was thinking maybe I could drive for a while, change of scenery,” Sam tried as the four gathered outside the Impala. 

“I don’t think so,” Dean replied in his knee-jerk reaction.

However, Lana stepped in, “Oh come on, Dean… let those two take the front for a little while and you can sit with me in the back….” she gave him her best ‘sex me’ eyes. 

Sam had the keys in hand a moment later and the couples switched spots. Lily rarely got to sit shotgun and loved the new view. She also loved that she could control the music because Sam didn’t care. 

“Just remember we can still see you,” Sam warned as he pulled out of the gas station parking lot. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dean asked as he made himself comfortable in the backseat of his car. Lana had already made herself at home.

“You know what it means,” Sam returned simply with a look to his brother in the mirror, “We’ve still got like six hours to Nebraska.”

Lily groaned at the number.

“That’s a lot of hickeys,” Dean smirked, drawing Lana into him.

Lana laughed, “Don’t you dare,” she warned playfully. Dean kept his arm fastened tightly around her waist so she could not squirm away.

“Yes, please, don’t,” Sam repeated. 

“Oh hush,” Dean threw at his brother. 

“You’re like a couple of teenagers,” Sam expressed. 

“I can live with that,” Dean said, pulling Lana into him for a kiss. However, her cell phone buzzed in her pants pocket.

“I got this,” Dean slipped his hand in and pulled out her phone. Lana allowed this, a little booty grab never hurt anyone.

“Bobby,” he informed, opening the text without further permission, “Says he’s got wind of a possible Rawhead just outside of Dunning,” he said, quickly hitting buttons to hit a reply, “Guess that’s a start.” He tossed her phone aside, she wouldn’t be needing it. 

“At least it’s a monster. I would’ve freaked if Bobby said _ghost_ …” Lana added.

“Yeah. Dunning it is,” Sam replied, heading south so they might head west. The car went quiet for a moment. Lily kept her hand on Sam’s leg, looking out the windshield at the expansive view. Sam enjoyed the change of pace, sick of researching and having his legs cramped up in the backseat. 

Lana and Dean were getting cozier when they suddenly jumped.

“Hand check!” Lily exclaimed, whipping her head around unexpectedly. Sam laughed and so did Lana.

“Jesus, Munchkin, gonna give a guy a heart attack….” he groaned, settling back down. Lily smiled at him, “Keep it PG13.” 

**A Motel Somewhere Outside of Dunning, Nebraska**  
“Says here Rawheads like darkness, quiet, and humidity,” Sam said at his laptop. The group had finally made it into Nebraska and found a run-of-the-mill motel for the night to try and track down the rawhead that was feeding on innocent children. 

“Humidity? Here in Nebraska?” Lana asked, gathering her toiletries for a shower. 

“Doesn’t necessarily mean the weather… What? You think like a wet cellar or swamp land?” Dean interjected. Sam nodded, “That’s what I’m thinking, yeah.” 

“Why is it called a rawhead?” Lily asked, chewing on a Twizzler. 

“Not sure,” Sam admitted, “Probably get a better idea once we get an actual look at this thing.” 

“Hopefully not a long look before we gank that sucker,” Dean offered. 

“Well I’m going to shower because wet cellar or not, that drive was really long,” Lana disappeared into the bathroom. Dean waited only a moment, “Well, guess it’s time for a shower,” he said, following Lana into the bathroom without another word to Sam or Lily.

“Hey— but Lana-!“ Sam started as the door shut. Sam looked at Lily, horrified. 

Lily laughed, “C’mon,” she tugged at his hand, forcing him to stand and walk away from his laptop, “Unless you want to hear things you can never, ever forget — take a walk with me,” she offered, getting him out of the motel room. The night was relatively quiet, mildly chilly. The area was pretty rural but scenic. 

“So how are you feeling?” Sam asked, interlacing his fingers into hers as they walked around the motel to a little wooded area behind. A path had been stamped down by other patrons taking a walk into the woods so they followed it. 

“Uh,” Lily shrugged, “I don’t think I’m dealing with it right now, I don’t know if I can…” Lily admitted. She was happy they had a new case because it was a welcome distraction, “I mean, Sam, I _killed_ both of my parents…”

“Hey,” Sam squeezed her hand, “You know that’s not true. That demon killed your parents in one way or another just like he murdered my Mom and Lana’s step-Dad,” he slowed their walk so he could make his point, “Never think even for a minute you’re capable of hurting someone. It’s not who you are.”

Lily took in a breath to steady her voice, “You know, that’s pretty good advice. Sounds like you should take it,” She said, placing her hand on his chest. She knew what Sam wrestled with — his potential, his destiny. 

Sam sighed, “I am going to protect you no matter what it takes, okay?” he avoided her comment and shifted the subject back to her. 

Lily nodded. She wrapped her arms around his thick waist and rested her chin on his sternum, “I know,” she admitted. Not only did he take the chance to tell her ever 3-5 business days but she could _feel_ it, “But don’t forget, Sam Winchester, I am going to do the same.”

Sam gave her a small smile and brushed her hair away from her face so he could see her more clearly, “I know, especially since you’re such a good shot now…”

Lily straightened up, her mouth opening wide, “Uh! What?! Lana told you!” 

“Well… sorta. She told Dean and Dean let it slip,” Sam smirked, “Don’t worry, Annie Oakley, it’s okay.“

“Bet your butt it’s okay. I got my family to protect,” she said, making a point to grab his butt when referring to it. 

“Oh yeah?” He tipped her chin up and captured her lips with his just as she began to respond, “Yeah…”

Even though they were about to do a hunt, it was always nice to have this kind of down time. Didn’t even matter in the moment if it was because the other two were hogging the motel room. All that mattered, was that these kinds of moments still existed, and that made Sam and Lily both smile. They exchanged a few more kisses and then looked around town a little before they returned to the room.

Lily made sure to knock, Sam and her both much smarter than Dean was when it came to this, and Lana told them to come in, she and Dean were fully clothed, both on the bed, Lana on her stomach with the laptop. Dean was only half paying attention to what she was saying, because he was paying attention to _her_ , well aware that their honeymoon phase was in full swing.

“Welcome back,” Lana told them, still researching, but hearing the door. “I’ve been trying to figure out more about rawheads, and I’m a little disturbed.”

Dean nodded slowly. “Yeah, she got really touchy about the no touching.”

“I don’t wanna feel the way you want me to feel when you touch me, when I’m reading about these sickos preying on kids. It’s not personal,” Lana told him, glancing at him and taking a breath.

“It felt personal when you slapped my hand,” he replied, but he dropped it.

Lily came over to look over Lana’s shoulder, looking over the information that she had found about it all. Turned out that they were very humanoid looking, but in a very dead kind of way. It also had super strength and super speed, and the only way they knew how to take it out, was high voltage electrocution. So, Sam offered that he and Dean go talk to some people, but Lily wanted the boys to stay back. If this was about kids, then maybe Lana should be in front of it while talking to parents.

“My girl _does_ have a way with kid related things,” Dean admitted with a grin. “I mean if you want to come you can.”

Lana shrugged her shoulders. “I mean, I’m kind of in a deep research groove, honestly. We just need to talk to the parents to get a generalized location of where everything happened. So if you bring me that…”

She didn’t mean to wiggle her eyebrows at Dean when Sam and Lily were right here in the room too, but Dean got out of the bed pretty fast, planting a quick kiss on Lana’s head and then grabbing his jacket. Sam shook his head and told them to knock it off, and Lily laughed and took Dean’s place on the bed to help Lana with more research. They’d also probably need to fashion up something that would electrocute this thing.

“We will bring you back more information,” Dean promised, moving toward his brother. “We should leave the car and walk into town though. Munchkin and Bossy Pants are going to need the trunk to work with what we need for this.”

Sam nodded at him. “That’s fine. We’ll seem less imposing without the car.”

“My baby is not imposing,” Dean told him as he opened up the motel room door.

“No I am not,” Lana replied, but she laughed because she knew he was talking about his car.

Dean nodded, however. “That baby either.”

Sending him off with a wink, Lana sat up and turned to Lily when the boys had finally gone. Part of wanting to stay behind was most definitely because of research, but it was also because she wanted to talk to Lily about all sorts of things. Being able to have a girl to confide in, who was also with a Winchester, made things about a million times easier, and Lily smiled.

“That man is going to be the death of me if he doesn’t stop being so cute,” Lana admitted, shaking her head. “Also for real, who needs four hickeys? I covered them up really good but like…”

Lily laughed and shook her head. “You really _are_ like teenagers.”

“I mean, not to toot my own horn or jinx anything, but as far as long lasting relationships go for him, I’m edging in on the longest already,” Lana told her, definitely happy about that. “I told him he’s gotta chill though. The last thing we need to do is constantly be forcing you and Sam out on walks and even with the promise of sex, he keeps making that face when I suggest separate but right next to each other motel rooms.”

“Well as he likes to say, ‘it’s just not practical’,” Lily told her, deepening her voice to make a Dean impression that was so good the two started laughing more.

**In Town**  
“It’s just not practical,” Dean told Sam with a shake of his head. “We need to be as alert as possible, and separate rooms all the time makes us lazy. Sometimes, sure, but all the time? We don’t need it.”

Sam laughed, shaking his head. “The fact that Lana can’t even get you into a separate motel room with the promise of special favors is astounding. Is this self sabotaging or what?”

The only reason Sam thought it might be Dean screwing himself over, was because he did have this habit of pushing people away when they were close. Using sex and flirting as a coping mechanism was easy, and telling himself that the job was too messy for ties was easy...but he couldn’t run from Lana like that. She got everything that he got and then some, so the next issue Sam figured Dean might have was too much alone time to get sappy with her.

“This is me wanting us all alert enough to not get ourselves or each other killed,” Dean shrugged.

Sam was just going to have to take that as it was, and they headed to the house of the family that had just had their eldest son and youngest daughter go missing. They were young kids, probably just barely older than Sari had been, and with the other kids before them having gone missing and never returned, they knew they had only so much time to get this done. So they swung by the library before heading back to the motel, having grabbed some blueprints and smiling at the girls when they came into the room.

Lana and Lily had fashioned them up two tasers with some phone instructions from Bobby, and the boys were honestly impressed. More and more they were glad that they had this kind of help, and maybe this would be an in and out case after all. First they needed some food, and after a quick bite to eat, they were in the Impala and heading to the area Sam thought made the most sense. At first they couldn’t find a thing, but then they saw something incredibly fast go past them toward an abandoned house, and they parked the car, got out, and Dean reached for the tasers.

“Okay, so a hundred thousand volts?” Dean asked, nodding when the girls nodded. “Groups of two, and we get those kids and we go.”

Sam took a deep breath. “They’re the priority, but these only have one shot.”

“Got it. I pick Lily,” Lana announced, reaching for one of the tasers. “Come on--let’s lead the pack.”

“Excuse me?” Sam asked them. “In what universe?”

Lana smiled at him. “In this one, Sammy.”

He made a face at her, not because he cared about the nickname, but because she was taking point and dragging Lily with her. At the same time, if anyone was going to look less menacing to a couple of kids, it was going to be the two young women that the Winchesters traveled with.

They had a lot to carry--the tasers, guns and flashlights--but they managed it, and when they heard a noise, Lily readied the gun and Lana readied the taser. It was wet down here and she didn’t like the look of it, but when they opened up a cupboard, they saw the two kids and let out sighs of relief.

“Is it still here?” Lily asked them quickly.

They nodded and Lana spoke up. “Okay, then grab your sister’s hand and we are getting out of here. Come on.”

Lily and Lana each reached for a kid, tugging them out of the cupboard safely and then making sure they saw them at all moments, Lily getting grabbed at by the rawhead as Sam and Dean came in. Sam was right to her, telling Lana to keep going, the kids screaming and going to the top of the stairs without any prompting. Dean shot the taser but it missed, Sam getting Lily up and Lily heading to the stairs as well, taking the kids out to the Impala as Lana turned around to toss Dean the only other taser they had.

She hurried with Lily so they could get the kids safe, Sam calling to them to make sure everyone was okay, before he turned and was suddenly yelling about something else entirely. When Lana heard Sam call out Dean’s name, she felt pain shoot through her, Lily feeling her own pain and Lana’s. Suddenly Sam was telling them to call 911, and everything felt like a blur when the girls realized that Dean had been electrocuted, killing the rawhead.


	13. Heartstrings

**At the Hospital**  
While Lana was trying to smooth things over with the nurse to get the cost covered with a fake credit card, Lily was pacing with Sam after going over everything with the cops again. They hadn’t been able to see Dean yet, and they’d all taken turns shedding tears and getting annoyed at the service they were and weren’t getting. The doctor wouldn’t even talk to Lily or Lana because they weren’t immediate family, and they were besides themselves.

Finally, the doctor came out again, but he just wanted to let them know that the incident had triggered a massive heart attack, and he didn’t think Dean had much time left. Weeks to maybe a month, and that made Lana stop in her tracks. Sam was allowed to go in because he was Dean’s brother, Sam convincing the doctor to let the other two come as well. He took pity on them because of the situation, but Lana couldn’t get her feet to move as tears started to spill down her face.

“You two go ahead,” she told them, shaking her head at the protests. “I need a minute…”

What she needed was _a lot more time_ , but she didn’t have any of that. Sam wanted to see his brother, so he and Lily went first, letting Lana try and compose herself. When they entered, Dean’s eyes lit up at the sight of them, but it was clear that when he realized that Lana wasn’t with them, he was severely disappointed. The doctor had already told him what he had then told the other three, and he was trying to accept that he was dying. At least Sam and Lily had Lana to watch their backs, but where even was she?

“Have you guys ever actually watched Daytime TV?” Dean asked them, not wanting to focus on how pale he looked, or on the dark circles under his eyes. “It’s terrible.”

Lily smiled sadly, feeling Sam grasp her hand for moral support. “It’s not exactly good, no.”

“I talked to your doctor,” Sam managed after a moment.

“Where’s Lanni? I could use a little eye candy at the moment,” Dean continued to avoid the subject.

“Dean,” Sam told him sternly.

Dean sighed and turned the TV off. “Yeah. All right, well, looks like you're gonna leave town without me.”

“No we’re not,” Lana responded, her voice cracking a little.

It was hard not to see Dean’s eyes light up when he saw her come into the room, but her eyes were red and a little puffy, and seeing him look so weak was killing her--so it was killing him. He started to say something else, but she was moving past Sam and Lily and climbing onto the bed with him, her lips finding his for a moment to shut him up, hands cradling his face. He wanted to play the moment off and make jokes and tell them to go, but she just couldn’t do that, and looked him in the eyes when she pulled back.

“I’m not going anywhere without you,” Lana said as firmly as she could, and she didn’t care if that was even plausible or not.

Dean had nothing more to say. He knew he would have to let them go — that they would have to move on without him but for this moment in time, with Lana’s body warming his, he couldn’t manage to say a thing. He closed his eyes and felt her heartbeat. He was grateful that her heart was as strong as ever. If this had to happen to one of them, Dean was sure glad it was him. 

Lily focused hard on her shaking knees, they were ready to buckle beneath her. They talked all the time about death and dying — it was part of the job. But this? A massive heart attack? Weeks to live? This wasn’t how she lost Dean Winchester. This wasn’t how Sam lost his brother or how Lana lost… lost _him_. 

It was an entirely new side of Sam Lily had never seen before. He was angry. He was closed off and seeping with rage and sadness, confusion and hopelessness. It made her nauseous. Lana’s desperation was an endless tide that refused to calm. Then there was Dean: defeat. Defeat and fear with a touch of loneliness. 

“We’re not going anywhere,” Sam managed to back up Lana’s point. Every word Sam managed was painful but he had to lead them now, lead them to a way to save Dean. 

“Sam,” Dean started lowly, looking at his brother: _it is what it is, there’s no hope_. 

“ _Dean_ ,” Sam returned hardly, “We’re going to figure this out. There’s always a way.” 

Lana pressed her cheek against Dean’s chest. She could barely hear his heartbeat but it was as if she was trying to will it to heal by her love and desire alone, “Always,” she whispered.

“Yeah, well…they’re going to have to let me out of this bed sooner or later. I know one thing for sure. If I gotta go, I ain’t dying in a place that smells like old people.”

No one could manage a laugh. This time, the death humor fell flat. Too real. Too close. Dean caught eyes with Lily who looked as if she was about to fall over, “Hey, Munchkin,” he tried, his arm squeezing Lana more tightly to him, “Get over here,” he motioned with his head, trying to ease the pain he had caused. 

Lily’s lower lip quivered as she climbed onto the already crowded bed and found her way to wedge herself to Dean’s side. She placed her other arm around Lana as well, wanting the woman to feel anything but the hopelessness she felt now. 

“Sammy, you could join but I don’t think these beds—“ Dean started but Sam interrupted him.

“I know they’re looking out for you. I got some research to do,” Sam left the room without another word. It wasn’t like him to not say when he’d be back or if he was taking the car. But it didn’t matter. Lana wasn’t going _anywhere_. 

**Hours Later**  
Once Lana fell asleep in his arms, Lily felt secure to climb back out of the bed and try to make more of their situation, “I’m going to go find the food.” she said of their shared love, “What do you want?”

“No more pudding,” Dean groaned, “Get the good stuff.”

Lily gave a small smile, “On it,” she disappeared from the room on a mission. 

Lana’s eyes opened once Lily was gone.

“Thought you were asleep,” Dean mumbled. 

“How could I sleep at a time like this?” Lana asked seriously, “Just…thinking, that’s all.” 

“Thinking about me naked?” he waggled his brows but Lana gave him a stern look and he sighed, “Yeah, alright… worth a shot.” 

Lana sat up a little so they could talk more seriously, “I should’ve shot the thing,” she admitted, “I thought I didn’t have a good angle but I was wrong. I keep replaying it in my head…”

“Hey,” Dean said, his voice more harsh than he had meant, “Don’t you do that,” he reached his hand up and brushed his fingers over her cheek and into her hair, “This is part of our job — how many times had we talked about it?” he spoke of their sporadic hunts over a decade, “It’s not exactly a line of work where you die of old age…”

“Maybe not but 30, Dean? 30 _of a heart attack_? No way. You’ve done too much good — heaven or whatever the hell it is: it _owes_ you.” Lana returned surely. 

“I don’t think there’s anything like that watching out for us,” he admitted, “I got nowhere to cash in those I.O.U’s,” he did not believe in angels or heaven. He believed in what he could see and what he could touch: Lana, his family, demons, and all of the hell they brought along with them. 

“Well _I_ don’t believe that,” Lana argued, “And since I’m always right, you’re just going to have to get ready to cash in that major I.O.U. and you’re going to like it.” 

Dean gave a smile, “Ah, there she is,” he smirked. Lana, despite herself, broke a smile at the sight of his eyes lighting up the way they did when he adored her. Lana leaned in and planted the gentlest of kisses on his lips, “I’m always right here, next to you.” she promised, pressing her forehead against his.

“I know,” he replied. He swallowed hard, determined not to get choked up in front of her. If he was going down, Dean Winchester would not die a sap. 

**Somewhere in the Hospital**  
Lily traversed the maze of the hospital, finding it easier to breathe on her own. Her own pain was debilitating but she knew how to hold her own pain. Finally, she found a small cafeteria. It was empty and sparsely lit with a sad bank of vending machines and a rotating food server. For how expensive Dean’s bills were she was disappointed in the care the hospital took of their food service. 

“Yahtzee,” she muttered to herself, not realizing just how much she had picked up from being around Dean. She only realized when she hit the vending machines that she didn’t have any money. She rarely had money and Sam was the one with the fake credit cards and Dean usually had the cash. Suddenly, Lily felt useless and it was almost enough to bring her to her knees. She could not be useless and weak: not now. If her only skill was getting food then dammit, she was going to get Dean food.

Forcing the swell of self-pity away, she glanced around before pulling a utility tool out of her faded combat boot. She gave it a little squeeze. There were initials carved into the belt clip: DW. It had been Dean’s when he was a teenager but he’d given it to her when she first joined the brothers on their journey to make sure she always had something to protect herself. However, Lily forced away the sentimentality of the object and began searching for the right tool. 

With a little Winchester-approved, questionably-ethical jimmying, Lily was able to short-circuit a vending machine and raid it for everything Dean Winchester approved. 

**Dean’s Hospital Room**  
By the time Lily returned with an armload of snacks, Lana and Dean were cuddled up watching bad nighttime daytime TV reruns. 

“Jackpot!” Dean exclaimed seeing the mother-load in her arms, “Nice work,” he said as she dumped the pile of snacks onto the bedside tray table. 

“They can take it out of your hospital bill,” Lily said simply. That’s when Dean and Lana realized what Lily was saying: the food was _stolen_.

“Munchkin I have never been more proud of you,” he said seriously and Lily managed a smile. The room was very difficult for her to be in but at the same time she couldn’t bear to leave Dean or Lana. With Sam gone, it was up to her to take care of them. 

“I didn’t see any coffee,” Lily informed Lana, “Apparently they stop serving coffee after like 6pm because they suck,” she couldn’t even manage a real reason. Lily was exhausted and bitter at this dumb hospital for not saving Dean’s life. 

Lana gave her a smile, “That’s okay,” she managed, unable to pry herself away from Dean, even if that meant hearing him crunch through off brand pretzels right next to her ear, “When we all get out of here we’ll make a stop for the good stuff,” she tried to think positive. Step one: get Dean out of the hospital. Step two: save his life. She didn’t have an exact road map to how these things were going to happen but that was her plan and she would make it happen if she died trying. 

Lily climbed up to take a cross-legged seat at the edge of the bed facing the couple, “Have you two heard from Sam?” she asked with some trepidation. 

“No,” Lana admitted, although she wasn’t paying much attention to her phone. Nothing outside of his hospital room mattered, “He’ll come back or call when he has something,” Lana said surely. She knew Sam would work just as hard as she would to save Dean’s life and that meant two seasoned hunters on the job — how could they lose?

Instead of being here where all he could do was dwell on Dean’s situation, Sam was undoubtedly making phone calls and losing himself in research. They lived in a world filled with all sorts of supernatural things, so there had to be an answer somewhere, even if it wasn’t conventional. Besides, once Lily and Lana were kicked out when visiting hours were over, he’d have more hands to figure this out.

“You know, the nurses here aren’t even hot,” Lana mused, reaching for her phone. “The least they could do is give you some better service.”

That made Dean chuckle, his mouth full of junk food. “You make a fair point.”

She was trying to put herself in a better place, but there was no better place when Dean was laid up in a hospital bed, not even sure what to do with himself. Taking a deep breath, she texted her mother, and then she texted Sam, even opening up a bag of Cheetos to pass some time as she stayed in bed with Dean. Neither she nor Lily wanted to leave, but eventually, the nurses did kick them out, and they had to make their way back to the motel, where Sam was drowning himself in research.

“How is he?” Sam asked them slowly.

Lily moved toward him. “He was still happily stuffing his face with vending machine food when we left.”

“His vitals were pretty much the same, but his attitude was improved,” Lana added as she plopped herself down on a bed that was going to be incredibly empty without Dean in it.

This wasn’t how any of them had thought that things would go, and it certainly wasn’t what any of them wanted, but they were going to have to make the best of it. Lily was threading her fingers through Sam’s hair to try and calm him, but everyone’s emotions were everywhere. Feeling all of this the way that she did was hard, but she wanted to manage it for everyone else.

Opening up her own laptop, Lily started to research heart care as Lana seemed to crawl inside of herself, curling up on the bed with her back to Lily and Sam. She was on her phone, but it was mostly just to text Dean since she couldn’t be with him, even if she was trying to help too. Research was the only way they got Dean out of this, and she only turned when she heard Sam start to leave a message for their Dad.

She’d forgotten for a moment that that had had to be done too.

Deciding she couldn’t feel sorry for herself, Lana sat up and then opened up her address book on her phone, telling Sam when he was done that she’d call everyone she could think of to help. That left Sam to trying to find alternate ways to heal Dean, and it would help Lily if Lana could control her emotions a bit better than she was controlling them right now.

For three days they alternated research and visiting Dean in the hospital, the doctors refusing to let him go until he’d been monitored a bit longer, and one morning when Lily and Lana were getting ready to go surprise him with good stuff, they heard a knock on the motel room door. Moving to it, Sam opened it up, not sure who he was going to find, but everyone was surprised when it was Dean. Lana hurried over to him in case he needed any help to walk, and Lily spoke first.

“Why in the Hell didn’t you tell us to come get you?” Lily asked him.

Dean shrugged his shoulders. “Spur of the moment. I was tired of being cooped up where the nurses weren’t even hot. Besides, I wasn’t going to let myself die there--so I checked myself out.”

“You know, this whole I-laugh-in-the-face-of-death thing? It's crap. I can see right through it,” Sam told his brother, but he was glad that he was there.

“And yet, you all look worse than me. Have you been sleeping?” Dean asked them, honestly concerned about their well being through all of this.

“I mean, no one’s been here to warm up my feet,” Lana teased, but she pressed a couple of kisses to his cheeks, and laughed a little when he told her to mind her PDA. “No, I can kiss you as many times as I want, thanks.”

That made him smile as she helped him to sit on the bed, Sam already starting to explain how they’d been scouring everything, Lily handing Dean the food they’d gotten him, and sitting on the other side of him on the bed. Being close to Dean was all they all wanted right now, and they weren’t about to let anybody ruin this for them.

“There is actually a specialist here in Nebraska,” Sam told his brother, giving a nod. “It’s a little ways drive, but it will be worth it.”

Dean smiled a little. “I knew you guys wouldn’t let it alone.”

“Of course not. I told you that you were stuck with me, and I’ll be damned if you make me a liar,” Lana replied, stealing a kiss when he gave her a look. “You wanna nap a little first?”

“I can nap in the car. Besides, maybe if I get you in the backseat for a bit, I can cash in on some ‘I’m dying’ sex,” Dean teased, wiggling his eyebrows.

Lana smiled, shaking her head--some things never changed. “So you can die from an orgasm induced heart attack? No, sir.”

“At least some things never change,” Lily smiled, kissing his temple and then getting up. “Since we’re all ready, how about not wasting any time?”

They were all in violent agreement with her, and headed to the Impala, where Sam drove and Lily was sitting shotgun, Lana more than happy to press tender kisses to Dean in the backseat and hold his hand. Sure, she was being overly affectionate, but she was so worried that something bad might happen and she couldn’t handle that. Right now she just wanted to focus on Dean and when they got to where they were going, it was raining ever so slightly and there was a big tent. There was also a sign that read, ‘ _The Church of Roy LeGrange. Faith Healer. Witness The Miracle_ ’.

“You guys are something else,” Dean said, not letting anyone help him out of the car because he was annoyed now. “I thought you guys were taking me to a doctor.”

Sam sighed gently. “I believe I said a specialist, and he’s supposed to be the real deal.”

“I suppose Lily could suss him out,” Lana offered. She had to admit this felt _off_ to her — but the clock was ticking and she didn’t have another answer.

“I can try,” Lily agreed. She could already feel the hope and desperation pouring out of the people clamoring to be inside the tent; it was incredibly tragic. The trio hovered around Dean like a gang of bodyguards as they followed the crowd into the tent and found their seats out of the rain near the front.

People from all walks of life surrounded them and Lily wondered if this was the craziest thing they’d ever done: all ghosts and monsters included. 

Lana kept her arm around Dean or her hand in his at all times, “We’ll just watch and listen, who knows… maybe I’ll even convert,” she teased, pressing a kiss to his temple.

“Just so long as it comes with the school girl skirt,” he said half-heartedly. He still wasn’t okay with this but deep down he knew exactly what they did: there were no other options present and he’d be damned if he went back to that hospital bed. 

The crowd came to a hush and a woman stepped out onto stage. She was homely and introduced herself as Roy’s wife and a true believer. She wasted little time in introducing her husband, Roy Le Grange, the healer. He stepped onto stage with a cane which his wife, Sue Ann, took to the side. Roy Le Grange was blind. 

Dean leaned over to Lily next to him, “So whatcha think?”

“Shh!” she responded in a snap. 

“Yikes,” he said, looking back to Lana who gave him a smile and patted his knee. 

“The Lord touches us in different ways,” Le Grange started. Dean gave Lana a look: _oh come on_. Lana nudged him to pay attention. Lily was taken aback by this man. His energy was different and Lily couldn’t put her finger on it, “But I suppose that’s why you’re all here today.” 

He held out his hands above the crowd. People leaned forward in their seats, one man nearly fell out of his as the preacher seemed to be reading the flock before him. 

Then, Lily and Lana nearly fell out of their own chairs when the Preacher spoke again, “Dean… do I have a Dean Winchester here? Come on up here, son,” he looked in their general direction. Sam nearly ripped Dean’s arm off in surprise, urging him out of his seat.

“Uh…” Dean sank back a little, “Yeah but uh — pass… You can pick someone else” he started. Lana was not afraid to strangle him in front of an entire crowd of people. 

“I didn’t pick you Dean, the Lord did,” the Preacher responded. Dean glanced at Lily who gave him a small nod. She couldn’t promise powers but regardless — the man believed. So with near-violent urging from his family, Dean headed up to the stage to soft applause from the crowd. 

Lily held both Lana and Sam’s hands, squeezing them tightly. This was not a coincidence. Lana knew Dean didn’t believe in the holy but if anyone in this tent deserved a second chance: it was Dean. 

“The Lord rewards the Good and punishes the Evil,” Roy continued in his sermon-like speech. His hands raised towards heaven before one of them pressed to the side of Dean’s head. For a moment, Dean looked as if he were about to drop dead from pure embarrassment until a look washed over him: a mixture of pain and confusion. The Preacher’s hand held fast, even as Dean was taken to his knees. “Ah…” Dean grunted.

Lana raised half out of her seat but Lily held her hand and shook her head, “Something’s happening!” Lily told her. Lana held back but was hovering an inch or so over her chair, ready to pounce. 

Then Dean collapsed all together to gasps and cheers of the crowd. Lily released Lana’s hand and she was next to him in half a second, Sam half a second later. Lily couldn’t take her eyes off of the Preacher. A cold chill ran down her spine and she was rooted in place.

“Dean, Dean!” Lana called, shaking him as Sam helped her right him into a half-sitting position. 

Very suddenly, Dean's eyes opened. He had trouble coming into focus: _what had happened_? That’s when he noticed a man standing behind the Preacher, he was pale, gaunt, and gone in a blink of an eye. _Sonuvabitch_.

“Oh thank God!” Lana hugged him from behind. 

“And that is the power of our Lord!” Roy exclaimed to a louder round of applause. A moment later Sue Ann helped him off stage and they promised to pick another faithful the next day. 

“Dean, Dean how do you feel?” Sam asked as the crowds began to empty but the group remained huddled at the front. 

“Uh,” Did he have words? Something happened but he didn’t know what. Lily finally left her seat and came to stand by her family. Dean looked up at her and they had a moment of connection, “You saw something, didn’t you?” Lily asked.

Dean nodded. He glanced around, “We should get out of here,” He said. Sam and Lana helped him to his feet and returned to the Impala. It was difficult working Dean through the crowd who wanted to touch him or speak to him about his miracle. 

“Now I know what it would look like if you’d become a rockstar,” Lana teased as she helped him into the backseat. They didn’t know what happened yet and driving for him was just not going to be an option. 

“My groupies would be _way_ hotter,” Dean replied. 

Sam began driving them out of the mud-pit-turned-church, “How do you feel? Do you feel better?”

“Honestly, Sammy, I don’t know. But that Preacher had some power or something. I saw something behind him…” 

“Saw what?” Lana asked.

“I don’t know. A man? Tall, dark, and way not handsome,” he replied, thinking hard about the spectral figure he saw for half a moment. 

“It felt like death,” Lily added, “It was cold but… it wasn’t _coming_ from Roy, not exactly.” 

“Weird,” Lana said. She didn’t like it. Usually seeing dark figures wasn’t a good sign. 

“Think it was some kind of dark magic?” Sam asked, despite not wanting to even think about it that way. He wouldn’t feel good about sending his brother to see some sort of death doctor. 

“Hard to say,” Dean shrugged, “But I officially revoke Sammy’s medical advice,” he teased. The joke fell flat. The car was on edge. Was Dean healed? What had he seen? Was it going to get worse? 

“Ha-ha,” Sam retorted, his voice dripping in sarcasm. 

“I think I’m hilarious,” Dean mumbled. 

Lana ran her hand down his arm, “We’ll take you to a doctor tomorrow and see if anything’s changed and…go from there with this tent Preacher?” 

Dean gave half a nod, “Let’s go to a new hospital…gotta try again for the hot nurses,” he said. Finally, the car broke a small laugh. _Bingo_. “We need to make a stop on the way back to our room.”

“What?” Sam looked, concerned into the rearview at his brother. 

“Pie,” Dean replied simply, “I got hoodoo-voodoo-saved today and I think I deserve some pie.” 

Lana laughed and leaned in to kiss his cheek, “Yes you do,” she placated, “I could use something to eat too,” she added. They hadn’t really eaten much since Dean had his accident — well, everyone except Dean who had eaten an entire vending machine. 

“Food, I can do that,” Sam smiled a little. For tonight he could have his family and in the morning they would face the reality if his trip to the preacher had really worked. 

Lily squeezed Sam’s knee, “You did a good thing,” Lily assured him quietly, “No matter what.” 

Sam sighed and for the first time in days, he reached down and took her hand, bringing it to his lips he kissed it gently, “Yeah, I hope so.” he tried.

**Back at the Motel**  
After the run in with whatever it was that Dean saw, they all knew they needed to get him checked out, but not until the morning because it was kind of late when they got back to the motel. Not to mention they were exhausted and yet Lana was starting to research some things. Lily said it felt like death, and Lana had a feeling she knew what to look for next, but it would involve some snooping and she didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“So, I’m going to make you an appointment for first thing in the morning,” Lana explained, pulling her phone out and leaving for a minute to call the doctor.

Dean shook his head a little and sat on the bed. “Well, she’s never going to let up now.”

“She almost lost you--you’re stuck,” Lily laughed, shaking her head. “She just really cares about you.”

“I know she does,” Dean replied, his voice soft.

They hadn’t really talked about all of that, but he knew that he was important to her and as much as he preached about ties and how dangerous they were, he wouldn’t change this. He had his brother, he had Lily who he loved like a sister, and he had Lana who would do anything for him and vice versa. Had their roles been reversed, he would have been acting the same way with her.

“I just can’t shake what happened,” Dean admitted, wanting to change the subject since he and Lana still hadn’t even talked about this emotions thing. “It wasn’t at all natural.”

Sam took a deep breath. “I’ll start looking things up, but…”

“...we haven’t exactly been sleeping,” Lily finished for him. “When we weren’t here looking for things, we were with you at the hospital and do you feel okay?”

“I mean...I feel better, but not great because of whatever I saw,” Dean told them, looking up when Lana came in.

“First thing in the morning, you and I have a date with a doctor,” Lana announced, looking at the three and then taking a breath. “And I was thinking, that maybe right after, we should really think about figuring out what you saw.”

Dean smiled and nodded. “You guys need to sleep. We can’t hunt something if you guys aren’t with it.”

He was right, and while they should be rushing him to the hospital, the color had returned to his face, he didn’t look weak, and Lana moved to sit with him, Lily snuggling into Sam. It was kind of late, and yet Dean had been spending a lot of time laying down and he didn’t know if he wanted to sleep. Dean had to admit, however, that he was feeling a little better, and he smirked a little when he glanced at Lana and caught her look.

“What?” he asked.

Lana bit her lip and then tilted her head. “How are you feeling?”

“I mean...better,” he admitted, giving her a smile. “You don’t have to worry.”

“That’s good. So...like...how much better…?” she asked him softly.

He wasn’t quite sure what it was that she was asking at first, but the moment she wiggled her eyebrows, everything kind of clicked for him. It took Sam a minute too, but when he nodded and got up, Sam got it and Lily couldn’t help but laugh at them. So he was more than likely healed all up, and the first thing that Lana wanted to do was cash in on his time. Then again, she had almost lost him and she knew that he had been doing nothing but laying in the hospital and getting a bunch of tests done.

“I just thought I could help with your mood,” she offered, laughing when he tugged on her hand toward the door.

“We’re going to run an errand,” Dean told the other two, grabbing his keys. “We’ll be back.”

Lily and Sam didn’t even have anything to say to that, and smiled at each other as they let themselves out to obviously have some fun in the backseat of the Impala. Even though Sam made a joke about how they were really going to have to stop sitting in the backseat all the time, the two got ready for bed and then just cuddled up together, but even with Dean maybe out of the clear, they were worried.

“You really think they should be out banging in the car?” Sam asked finally.

Lily shrugged her shoulders. “If Lana thought she was going to kill him, she wouldn’t do it.”

“I know that, but we still haven’t had him all checked out,” Sam said and then he sighed. “I don’t know, I just...I don’t want this to be a hunt? I don’t want this to be bad because we might have just gotten him back.”

“I know,” Lily told him, kissing his cheek and snuggling into him more. “We’ll know first thing in the morning. Besides, whatever it is, we’ll get him out of it too, and anyone else that might be caught up in this.”

Sam knew she was right, and kissed her gently before he let himself settle.

**Backseat of the Impala**  
Honestly, Lana knew she probably should have let Dean rest more, but she couldn’t help herself. He seemed better, and she snuggled against him after getting her clothes back on, knowing this was really not the parking lot to be doing this, but oh well.

“You sure your heart’s okay?” she asked for probably the fourth time.

Dean chuckled and nodded. “I promise, my heart is fine. The doctor will let you know for certain in the morning. I really do physically feel fine.”

“You just saw something,” she nodded, leaning against him and resting her head on his shoulder. “I thought sex would help and I’m not sure it did.”

“No, it did...we just both know that whatever I saw wasn’t good,” Dean told her, kissing her head. “I am truly grateful for everything that you’ve done for me, but tomorrow there’s another healing.”

She knew what that meant too: it meant someone else might see something. Even though most people ignored things they couldn’t usually see, it was in their nature to see everything because they were hunters. They were the only ones equipped to handle this too. At some point, they were going to have to figure out exactly what made this healing work.

“I just...I got you back,” Lana whispered, sighing a little. “I know how selfish that sounds, but I’m not ready to lose you. I know this life isn’t without casualties, but I always hoped in my mind that it would be _me_.”

Dean shook his head at that. “Please don’t say that. I don’t want it to be you.”

“I’m the one that it should be,” Lana protested, shaking her head. “You and Sam never asked for any of this. _Lily_ never asked for anything of this. Everything bad that led you all down the path you’re on now, was done by a demon whose blood runs through my veins.”

“That doesn’t mean that you’re the one that should go,” Dean told her gently, tilting her head up so he could look her in the eye. Even in this dark motel parking lot, this woman had him hook, line and sinker and he needed to just accept it. Perhaps it was what she was saying too, but he kissed her gently before pulling back. “I don’t know what it means okay? I don’t know what we’re supposed to do, but I do know that I have you and all jokes aside, I need you here.”

They were having a moment and Lana knew he didn’t do the sappy thing, but she also knew that they needed to have this conversation. So, she let him talk, because if she interrupted him too much, the moment would be gone and she liked that they were doing this.

“Who is going to save me from being the third wheel?” Dean asked, and Lana knew he’d already made it to jokes on his own.

Smiling, she kissed him again. “I need you too. So, let’s go and sleep a little and you can be the little spoon this time and I’ll feel better.”

He actually really enjoyed that idea, and so they locked up the Impala and then headed back inside, getting into bed together and trying to put it all behind them for the time being.

**The Doctor’s Office - Next Morning**  
Dean had gotten some tests done, and now they were all waiting in his room for the results. There had been a little bit of researching, but mostly Lana wanted to get here with him to see that he was fine, and she hadn’t sat down at all. Sam on the other hand was sitting with Lily on his lap, his emotional support for this.

“I could have done this on my own,” Dean told them all, shaking his head.

Lana gave him a look. “Fat chance.”

“Sam,” Lily started, louder than her usual tone of voice, “After _Dean_ came to get _you_ from school, how often does he say he should ‘do something on his own.”

“A lot,” Sam answered, looking dead at his brother. 

“And how often will we ever let that happen?” Lily continued as Lana smirked: it was nice to have back up.

“Almost never… unless it happens in the backseat of your car then—“ Sam started but the door opened up and the doctor entered with a thick clipboard and a face of utter confusion. Sam immediately stopped talking about what happens in the backseat of the Impala.

“Well, Mr. Winchester, I don’t know what to say,” she began coming to stand in front of him. She was itching to look him over one more time because it did not make sense, “You are a healthy man. No signs of stress or trauma, every test we ran came back normal — some even above average.”

“Would you look at that,” Dean smirked, giving Lana eyes. 

Lana rolled hers, “You’re sure, Doc? His heart is fine?”

“Honestly, better than fine,” the Doctor explained, “Perfect condition. Straight off the lot.” 

“Not even high cholesterol?” Sam asked. He saw what Dean shoved down his throat. 

“Nope,” the Doctor replied. She withdrew her flashlight to check his eye dilation one more time, as if searching for some trick or secret, “And you know, it’s just crazy,” she was opening up a bit — the unusualness of the situation had her at a loss.

“What?” Lana asked, worried the other shoe was about to drop. She came to stand by Dean now, ready to take whatever the Doc had to throw.

“We had a guy about your age come in yesterday. 30ish, healthy, no past medical history and yet he just — dropped dead of a heart attack.” she said, “So, all I can say is you’re a very lucky man Mr. Winchester.” 

“Would you look at that… _lucky_ ,” Dean repeated, looking from Lana to his brother and Lily. Sounds like they really were on to some hunt. 

**In the Impala**  
The ride was quiet. Dean drove them back to their motel since they had some serious research to do. Another angle was to research past deaths in the area — the mysterious ones, the “never seen it coming” ones. 

Suddenly, Lily exclaimed, “Everyone calm down!” she said. The three looked at her in surprise. For once, everyone was quiet and behaving themselves. 

“I know we’re all worried,” she started, “But we should also be celebrating the fact that Dean is all better and he isn’t going anywhere. Ever.” 

“Thanks, Munchkin,” he winked at her in the mirror.

“Sorry,” Sam mumbled into the side of her head as he kissed her hair. Everyone had been stewing simultaneously on the news and Lily was going to buckle with worry. 

“It does give a whole new meaning to the word ‘revival’.” Lana muttered, her mind on the tent, the Preacher, and the thing that Dean saw. 

**The Motel Room**  
Laptops. Open books. Calls to Bobby. The motel room was in full research swing. Reapers, angels of death, even pale demons all on the table. 

Lana was clicking through her phone when Dean spoke, “Don’t tell me you have some ex whose specialty is pale old dudes,” he said, tapping the pen in his hand against his thigh. 

“Oh, didn’t I tell you? Malcolms on the way,” Lana teased. Dean's face fell, believing her joke for half a second before Lana laughed wildly. 

“Oh, oh very funny, Lanni,” he returned in annoyance.

Lana smiled, “Thank-you, I’ll be here all day,” she said taking a note down from an old text message. 

“You better be,” Lily said as she taped a print-out of a recent death to the wall in their minor grim, almost-serial-killer-level collage, “Because none of you,” she promptly turned on her heel to look directly at each of them in turn, “Are going _anywhere_. **Ever**.” she told them with the authority of someone much mightier than herself, “Do I make myself clear?” 

Sam chuckled and gave a nod, “Yeah,” he shook his head in amusement. He could never make that promise to her but the love she exuded for him, his brother, and Lana always struck him deeply. 

Lana smiled warmly. She was on the same page as Lily. If she had to make the boys swear an oath then she’d do it — these three would live for a very long time if she had anything to say about it. 

“Aye, aye, captain,” Dean winked before throwing a handful of peanuts into his mouth, some of them missing and landing on the bed beneath him. 

“Ew!” Lana exclaimed, quick to brush them away from her side of the bed, “I am not sleeping in salty peanuts, Dean.” 

Dean chuckled.

“I think we need to go back to the church,” Sam said after a moment of Lana and Dean’s bickering, “I think we need to see more of how he does what he does… see if we see that thing again.”

“I think you’re right,” Lana sighed, “I’ve exhausted almost every one of my ideas but I can’t pinpoint it because…all we have is Dean’s recollection and his clean bill of health.” 

As she speaks of his health, Dean decided to put a large amount of peanuts in his mouth and then take a sip of beer at the same time — “malty and salty” he called it. His cheeks were full like a chipmunk as he chewed. Lana gave him a look. 

“MMt?” he asked innocently with a full mouth.

“God you’re lucky I love you,” she shook her head before rolling off of the bed, “Think we could still get out there for this afternoon?” she looked at her watch. 

Sam did some calculating of his own, “Yeah. Even if we miss a sermon we could request a meeting with the Preacher one on one — I mean he picked Dean out of a crowd and healed him, that’s got to count for something.”

“Alright,” Dean said after finally swallowing, “But I’m driving. Sammy’s had enough of my baby for now.” 

Lana threw Sam a wink and blew him a teasing kiss. Dean, however, did not think it was as funny as Sam, “You know what I mean!” 

The three burst into laughter. Lana kissed Dean’s cheek, “Look, you’re all healed now. You’re even better than you were before…so I think I am okay to tease you _mercilessly_.” 

**Roy LeGrange’s Tent of Miracles**  
The drive was still long but it was much easier without the weight of Dean’s potential death on their shoulders. They managed to catch a glimpse of the last few minutes standing at the back of the tent when they arrived.

“We missed it,” Dean said, realizing they were talking about someone miraculously healed already, “We won’t be seeing that thing again.” 

“No knowing if we would have anyway,” Sam said with a sigh, “Could’ve been a one time deal.” 

“We gotta talk to Roy himself, get an idea of where his powers came from… you boys wait here. I’m going to talk to Sue Ann.”

“Why are we waiting here?” Dean asked, annoyed.

“Because Lily and I are less imposing to women. You’ll learn this one day.” Lana pulled Lily out of the tent to find Sue Ann as she said goodbye to loyal parishioners. 

“I’m not imposing,” Dean muttered like a petulant child.

“Dude, you’re over 6 foot with a knife on your belt and blood stains on your leather jacket,” Sam pointed out. 

“Yeah well…” Dean grumbled, “At least I’m not Sasquatch."

Dean watched them go and then turned to his brother, taking a breath. "I didn't want to say anything to the girls but...I want to look into the heart attack guy. He was otherwise healthy, then just dropped dead yesterday--big coincidence it was a day some guy heals me and then I see something."

Even Sam couldn't ignore the coincidence, but he didn't want to believe it either. Still, they might as well do something while they were waiting for the girls to come back from talking to Roy.

**Roy Legrange's House**  
Roy and Sue Ann's house was actually pretty nice, and Lana smiled as Sue Ann poured them a drink. She and Lily were trying to be as friendly as possible, but they also wanted to know more about this healing ability.

"Thank you," Lily beamed at her.

She smiled back. "You're welcome. I'm just glad we could help Dean."

"I am too, believe me. I was not ready to lose him yet," Lana admitted with a nod. "I'm just trying to make sense of what you did."

"My child, it was a miracle," Sue Ann replied. "They come so often around Roy."

Lily smiled at her as she tried to feel the situation. "When did it start?"

As much as they wanted to gush about how thankful they were for this miracle, people being able to do things? That was in their wheelhouse and Lana and Lily had secrets up their sleeves about things they could do too. Learning more about this might help them in the long run and they were nothing if not curious..

"Woke up one morning, stone blind," Roy explained to them. "Doctors figured out I had cancer. Told me I had maybe a month. So, uh, we prayed for a miracle. I was weak, but I told Sue Ann, 'You just keep right on praying.' I went into a coma. Doctors said I wouldn't wake up, but I did. And the cancer was gone."

It was then that he took his sunglasses off to reveal his white eyes, and the girls nodded even though he couldn't see it. Those eyes showed people what he had gone through, and yet it felt as though there was still more to tell. After all, he was healing people somehow and Dean wouldn't lie about what he had seen.

"The healing came next?" Lily asked slowly.

Roy nodded and put the glasses back on. "God's blessed me in many ways, and I just wanted to keep giving back."

"And his flock just swelled overnight. Now he can help plenty of people," Sue Ann put in.

"How do you know who to pick?" Lana asked him. "I mean...is it random?"

Roy smiled a little. "I don't pick...the Lord does. Dean wasn't done with what the Lord wanted him to do yet. I looked into his heart and I just knew."

Lana believed similar, but it was hard to believe that this man just suddenly had a gift. When it came to faith, Lana believed easier than most in God and the devil and an afterlife of some sort, but she also had practicality whispering in her ear, telling her she needed more proof of things. Lily at least had actual feelings when it came down to it to fall back on.

After thanking Roy and Sue Ann for everything, the girls headed back to the boys and caught the looks on their faces. Something was up with them and they both knew they weren't going to like what was being said. Lana even sighed and put her hands in the back pockets of her jeans, shaking her head as she looked at the ground for a moment.

"How bad is it?" She asked slowly.

Dean took a deep breath. "That guy who died? Name was Marshall. Turns out he was perfectly healthy, ran all the time, and saw something chasing him. Called his friend freaking out and then died of a heart attack at the exact time we were at Roy’s. More so, every time he heals someone, someone else dies of what he's 'healing'."

"So, definitely a hunt," Lily nodded, looking at Sam who seemed guilty. "Okay, then we stop it."

"You said it felt like death?" Lana asked Lily, avoiding eye contact with Dean. When Lily nodded, Lana nodded as well back. "It is probably a reaper." The words fell from her lips and then she chewed on her lip. "It means that somehow, a life is being traded for a life. I don't know how a reaper is being controlled, but it means Roy isn't exactly healing people. He's just transferring the symptoms to someone else and letting the reaper benefit."

That was only making Dean feel bad too, and Lana wished that she felt worse, but she didn't. She was supposed to care about this guy that had died just as much as the other three, but part of her just felt relieved that Dean was alright. Did that make her a horrible person? She cared about innocents--sometimes too much--but when it came down to it in the moment, she felt like she would have taken the heart attack just to shoulder it all and save Dean.

Dean being alive meant the most.

"Yeah...he died because of me." Dean spoke aloud. He didn't want to blame them, but he was getting agitated. "You guys never should have brought me here."

Lana spoke up first. "We weren't going to just let you die, Dean."

"And because of that, someone is dead because of me," Dean reminded her.

"Dean, we didn't know," Sam shook his head, trying to stand up for Lana. "We just knew we needed an answer."

"No," Lana shook her head, "I'm not going to apologize for your life being saved. I'm sorry that those people died, and I'm not going to let him keep getting away with it, but I'm not sorry you're healed."

She knew how it sounded, but in the middle of Dean starting to protest again, she stormed out. There was a war of moral conflict going on inside of her and she didn't want to break down in front of them. Lily and Dean were both surprised when Sam moved for the door first, telling them that he would talk to her. When he left, Lily looked at Dean as he sat on his and Lana’s bed, and she shook her head.

"You shouldn't get mad, you know? I get feeling icky about your life being traded for someone else's--I get that more than you know--but you can't just take it out on the people that love you." Lily told him, pondering her own advice for a moment.

Dean ran his hand down his face. "I don't even know if I'd be sorry either if the shoe was on the other foot. I was just...partly ready to die."

"We weren't ready to let go. We had to believe in something," she told him.

He knew that, and he nodded, changing the subject to Reapers. Lily nodded and started to help him research, Sam finding Lana crying by the car, and he nodded when she noticed him coming and quickly wiped her face with her sleeve.

"I'm not sorry," she said gently.

Sam nodded slowly. "If anyone gets that, it's me. I needed him to be okay no matter what, and didn't even think to research beyond it had worked for people before him. We all needed a miracle."

"But it's _not_ a miracle," Lana replied, her voice cracking a little. "We traded someone else's life for Dean’s, and I know we didn't know, but I'm upset too that I'm not sorry it happened...not the way I should be anyway."

"Because you love him," Sam said, nodding when she did.

It wasn't like no one knew, but she had yet to really admit it out loud with an actual 'I love you' directed at Dean himself. Things were still new too, and this situation throwing a wrench into things? How could she go back and look Dean in the eye knowing he felt so responsible for what had happened? Knowing he felt guilty for someone else's death.

Sam's hands rested on Lana’s shoulders. "Hey, look at me. You don't have to be sorry. What matters is you're going to help us stop Roy from playing God."

"Of course I am," Lana told him. "He can't keep doing this. Fake miracles? It just cheapens the real deal."

"Plus if this really is a reaper, then it not only makes sense that Dean was the only one who saw it, but it means this thing will be dangerous when it is freed," Sam pulled Lana into a hug. "Maybe we can grab some food and some coffee? It'll make you feel better."

Lana smiled a little and nodded, hugging Sam back. "Thank you...for talking to me. I just didn't know how to handle it."

"Hey, we've all got each other’s backs okay? I may not fully agree with how you drag Lily into things, but I know you love her too. I know you'd protect all of us with zero prompting. What you feel has merit, Lan." Sam nodded at her and then pulled his phone out. "I'll let Lily know that we will be back soon. She can handle Dean for a little bit."

"We will come back to them eating snacks," Lana laughed, shaking her head. "Can uh...can we not tell Dean about this? I haven't even told him the you-know-what. For all I know he's gonna freak out.”

“Your secret’s safe with me,” Sam replied with a smile, “Now c’mon,” he held out his hand, happy to have Lana with them. It was like having another adult around. Dean was his brother that constantly needed protecting or calming down and then Lily… no matter what they said he was never _not_ going to worry about her — but Lana? She had a power and an authority over herself that Sam respected. 

“I should just bring him back a salad and see how he feels then,” Lana said grumpily, knowing this was an issue she and Dean would have to agree to disagree on. 

Sam laughed, “I tried that once. It didn’t go well.”


	14. Lily's Time to Shine

**Motel Room**  
Dean and Lily had researched Reapers to death, pun intended. Dean shoved the computer away from him and rubbed his eyes with his palms, “They must have serious black magic to control these things.” he muttered.

Lily popped a peanut m&m into her mouth and crunched thoughtfully, “I don’t know. Lana and I talked to them and Roy… he was… he _believed_. I mean he was one of the most humble people I have ever come across,” she explained, “I don’t see him giving his soul over to the dark side…” 

“Something’s up…he gets cancer and then suddenly he wakes up one day — it’s gone and he can heal other people? I mean…” 

Lily tossed him a peanut m&m and he caught it in his mouth. They cheered but slid right back into their theories without missing a beat, “— That’s not the life of some humble bible thumper.” he finished.

Lily shrugged, “I know it’s weird but he just — he wasn’t lying. I guess you can lie by omission but I just don’t think so…”

“Beer me,” he said. Lily tossed another M&M at his face and it missed, hitting his cheek.

“Oh, come on Munchkin you can do better than that!” he popped the errant candy into his mouth. 

Lily smirked, “I played volleyball, not basketball,” she retorted, eating another chocolate. 

“Beach volleyball?” Dean winked. 

“Ew, gross!” Lily replied, throwing a chocolate at him like a weapon. However, he caught it in his hand and ate it smugly. 

The door opened.

“We’re back!” Sam announced. He was carrying two paper bags full of food that smelled delicious, “Hope you still have room for some real food…” he said, glancing at the pile of wrappers next to Dean’s computer. Lily was still chewing on an M&M, “Starved!” she replied. 

Lana glanced at Dean who was careful to swallow his mouthful before he cleared his throat, “We have to figure out how they’re controlling the reaper.” he avoided any other topic of conversation, “It’s gotta be some dark stuff but Munchkin here doesn’t think the Preacher has it in him.” 

Sam unloaded the family style food onto the table cleared away of research. 

“The LeGranges are the only ones that benefit from their healing show,” Lana started, “It wouldn’t make sense anyone else would leash a reaper and not benefit from it… that’s a lot of work for no pay out.” Lana grabbed a fry from the table and chewed mindfully. 

“Well,” Dean took a styrofoam tray passed to him by Sam, “There is one other LeGrange.” 

“Sue Ann?” Sam asked, taking a seat in the old upholstered chair. 

Lana looked to Lily, “She _would_ benefit from everything that’s happening and—“ Lana cut herself off.

“And what?” Lily asked. She felt silly, she had been so focused on Roy and Dean and Lana and Sam and her own shit, she’d barely noticed Sue Ann. 

“—and it makes sense, you know? Distraught wife makes a deal with a figurative devil to save her husband?” she said, risking a glance at Dean. 

Dean chewed his lip, gave a nod, and looked down.

“You’re right,” Lily said, “It’s what any of us would do.” 

“ _Did_ do,” Dean grumbled.

“Dean—“ Sam started. 

“Sammy,” Dean returned, “Look, I’m just saying I get it, okay? I’m not going to be okay that some random guy died for me but … I get it.” 

“Yeah, alright,” Sam muttered, opening up his own container. 

Lily took a fry from Sam’s container, still pacing the room, “So we look into Sue Ann?”

“I think so,” Lana replied before sipping her milkshake, “God, and that means we have to drive out to that god forsaken mud pit _again_.” 

“Hopefully the last time, though. We have to stop them before another innocent dies,” Sam interjected. 

“Sammy’s right,” Dean nodded, “But my driving ain’t that bad,” he gave Lana a smirk. 

She knew they had a lot to talk about but that damn smirk on his pretty face broke her down. 

“I’ll have to change up the music. We need a new set of tunes.” 

“Not a chance.” Dean pointed his index finger to emphasize his point.

“Try and stop me,” Lana replied with a firm smile. 

“Thank God,” Lily muttered, sliding herself into Sam’s lap despite the empty seat across from him. The three glanced at her, waiting for her to expand.

“When you two fight for real it _sucks_.” Lily replied, “So you disagree for now,” she bit into a fry, “Big deal,” she muttered with her mouthful. “You’ll kiss and make up.”

“Hey, don’t encourage them… we have to sit in that backseat tomorrow,” Sam said as if the two weren’t sitting right in front of them. 

“Oh no, no backseat nookie tonight,” Lana shook her head, finally kicking off her boots. She tore open a ketchup packet and annihilated her fries with it, “No way. Time out.”

“Oh c’mon…I got a new ticker and you’re going to be like that _now_?” Dean asked incredulously. 

“Yep,” Lana replied with a particularly poppy ‘p’. 

Lily rested her head back onto Sam’s shoulder, happy to hear the couple bickering properly again. No, they hadn’t dealt with any of the underlying feelings but in their line of work — they’d have to find a time. Maybe after they killed the Reaper… Blue Oyster Cult really had no idea what was going on.

Even though she was eating, Lana opened up her laptop to look up the list of people that Roy had saved and the list of people that had died, and then she tried to figure out when the next healing would be. It was as she was trying to figure it out, that she was suddenly sitting up.

“Wait a second...there’s another pattern,” Lana explained, turning the laptop to face the other three. “Everyone that’s been killed in someone’s place, is someone that Sue Ann would have had an issue with, faith-wise. If anyone is going to be a target next, it’s that guy that’s always outside the tent telling everyone that Roy is a fraud, and there’s another healing in a few hours.”

Sam leaned forward. “We still...wait--that cross on that reaper lore page. I saw one just like it in Roy’s church.”

“Good, then that's the motive and the object,” Lily smiled, nodding. “That means we’re already farther along than we were before with it all.”

“Isn’t that a Tarot?” Dean asked as he tilted his head to see it better. “I suppose that makes sense. Early Christian era and all that priest magic and everything. Reaper fits right in.”

Lily stood up, shoving some fries into her mouth. “Let’s go.”

She was right after all: they only had a few hours before Roy tried to heal someone else and they needed to move quickly. They couldn’t let anyone else die just because Sue Ann had possibly run into some black magic that she shouldn’t be using. Sure, they all got why she had done it, but they still couldn’t let her keep doing this to innocent people the way she was.

When they got to the tent, Lily suggested she stay with Sam to keep an eye on the protester and feel out the reaper if he showed; Dean and Lana nodding and heading into the tent. Roy was already starting to heal someone, and at first glance, they couldn’t see Sue Ann at all. Everything seemed like it was okay for a moment, like maybe they were wrong, but then the protester started to run, and Lily and Sam had to follow.

A cold chill went down her spine and she knew it was close, but how did one kill a reaper? Were they going to have to just watch this man die? Sam called Dean and since they didn’t see Sue Ann, he instead started a commotion, pretending there was a fire. That made Roy stop trying to heal, and he had everyone exit, but it was only the calm in the middle of the storm because then the protester was suddenly on his knees, and Lana caught Sue Ann, hiding in the corner of the tent, not visible to the others.

When Lana put her hand on her shoulder, Sue Ann turned around, the exact cross that Sam had been talking about hanging around her neck. It was only when Sue Ann turned the cross around that the reaper stopped, and from there she had Lana and Dean ordered out of the tent.

“I just don’t understand. After everything we’ve done for you?” Sue Ann asked, making a little bit of a scene. “I’m just so disappointed.” Shaking her head, she straightened out her blouse. “You can let them go...I’m not going to press charges. The Lord will deal with you how he sees fit.”

It was the way she said it that made Lana almost lunge at her, Dean having to wrap both arms around her and draw her up against him to stop her. The words had fallen from her mouth as a threat, and after what she had gone through earlier, Lana did not take kindly to Dean being threatened. She wanted to find comfort in Dean’s arms as he held her back, but all she was feeling right now was anger at a woman she understood.

“Come on, Firecracker,” Dean whispered, loosening his grip when she nodded.

Turning to him, she nodded again, and they headed to find Sam and Lily, passing Sue Ann and one of the people from Roy’s flock. They all overheard that there was going to be a private service to try the healing again uninterrupted, and it was going to be at Roy’s home. Heading to the Impala, Lana started to pace, Lily reaching out for her hand because her emotions were all over the place.

“We’re going to stop her this time,” Lily promised, shaking her head. “You’re agitated…”

Dean took a breath. “Sue Ann threatened me.”

“Yep, that would do it,” Lily nodded, giving Lana’s hand a squeeze.

“Then we need to get to Roy’s and find Sue Ann’s altar,” Sam shook his head. “You know I hate when we split up, but I don’t know exactly how to stop the reaper. Break the cross? Break the altar? Both?”

Lana nodded in agreement. “Both--we leave no stone unturned. So, even though I know Sam will hate it, Dean did promise he’d let Lily be a little more active. Maybe you two go to the house and Sam and I will destroy the altar?”

Sam definitely _didn’t_ like any of that plan at all, but Lily had wanted to be more here and he knew he had to stop trying to force her not to be. So, they had a plan.

**Roy’s House**  
It was easy enough to get to the house since they’d been there before, and there was a car out front that hadn't been before, so the healing was going to start any time now. Lily and Dean headed for the house as Sam and Lana moved around the house to look for the altar, but Lily and Dean stopped when they found cops. Making a rash choice, Dean told Lily to hide so she could get in the house, and then he goaded the cops into chasing him as a distraction.

“Oh, well great,” Lily muttered, shaking her head and heading for the house. Her goal here was to get that cross and destroy it, and she was certain she could do that.

As she tried to sneak in, Lana and Sam found an outside basement entrance and went in, finding the altar and all of the items she’d need to bind a reaper. What worried them the most, was when Sam picked up a picture Sue Ann had clearly taken of Dean when he got healed, and it had a bloody ‘X’ over it. He was the choice to die tonight, and Lana wasn’t going to let that happen, her and Sam turning when they heard Sue Ann speak.

“You don’t give up, do you?” she asked them, shaking her head. “I gave Dean life and I can take it away?”

Sam shook his head. “Do you hear what you’re saying? You’re playing with dark things you don’t understand!”

He and Sue Ann both jumped when Lana angrily flipped the altar, and when she moved for Sue Ann, Sue Ann bolted out of the room and closed the doors on them, locking them. Lana hadn’t felt this angry or desperate in a long while, but she didn’t feel fully in control either. Her eyes flashed yellow as she tried to open the door, Sam going for the window, Lily coming face to face with Sue Ann as she started to chant to send the reaper after Dean.

“Sue Ann you have to stop,” Lily told her, shaking her head.

Sue Ann held tightly to her cross and her voice grew louder, chanting over Lily’s pleas to stop what she was doing, to think about this, but Sue Ann was long gone — the corruption of dark power had taken root deep inside of her.

“I’m really really sorry!” Lily started but channeled the bit of self-defense Dean had taught her. Lily, despite Sue Ann not being much bigger than herself, aimed for the woman’s kneecaps. She kicked them swiftly and when Sue Ann pitched forward in pain, Lily ripped the pendant from her hand before throwing up her knee and hitting Sue Ann square in her face with a sickening ‘crunch’ that sent Sue Ann to the ground with a burst of blood from her nose. 

Then, Lily realized she did not know how to break a crazy reaper-controlling amulet but she had no time to think about it. She threw it to the stone beneath her feet and stomped as hard as she could, several times, letting all her emotions out with a terrible scream. The amulet smashed into dust. 

Suddenly, the Reaper turned its attention away from Dean. Dean, barely able to gather his strength watched as it glided away into the darkness. 

“Lana! Lily!” Dean called, running forward again, hoping the Reaper hadn’t set its sights on his family. 

Lily heard Dean’s voice far away but took a surprised step back when the familiar, cold feeling of death returned. Sue Ann made a terrible nose beneath her and within a moment was silent as the grave. Lily watched as the life left her, fixated. 

“Lana!” Dean called again, running around the house, “Sammy?!” 

By a stroke of luck, Dean heard a strange commotion and stopped at the cellar doors. A metal pipe held the doors shut, “Lana?” Dean asked again. 

He could hear elated voices on the other side. He yanked the pipe from the cellar and helped Lana and his brother from its depths. Lana threw her arms around Dean, glad to know he was safe for another moment in time.

Sam looked over Dean, “Where’s Lily?” he asked hurriedly. 

“I led the cops away, she went inside to get the cross,” Dean said, “The Reaper — it turned on me but then it was just…gone… I don’t know who—“ 

Without waiting for a further explanation, Sam led the group in a hustle towards the front lawn. 

Lily sat on the porch steps, Sue Ann’s dead, bloody corpse not far from her, “So, I did it,” Lily said, standing as her family met her at the porch, “It must’ve come for her when it was free…” she glanced back at Sue Ann. 

However, her vision was obstructed when Sam suddenly pulled her into him and looked her up and down, “Are you okay?” 

Lily gave him a smile, “I’m more than okay. I stopped Sue Ann from killing anyone else,” She said. She would deal with the whole killing-someone-guilt later, “ _And_ I’m unscathed. See?” 

“Yeah,” Sam sighed, finally releasing a bit of his worry, “Yeah I do,” he said proudly. 

“Knew you had it in you,” Dean smirked, not having to feel guilty about leaving her alone to be the cop distraction. 

“Oh no, no. You two would have left her in the car if it wasn’t for me but look what she accomplished,” Lana pried Lily out of Sam’s grasp and wrapped her arm around her friend’s shoulders, “So I think that’s earned us some ice cream on the way home.”

Sam glanced at Dean who shrugged, “Don’t see why not.” 

As they hurried back towards the Impala, not keen on sticking around when the crazy carnage was discovered, Lily asked, “What’s going to happen to Roy?” 

“I don’t know,” Sam admitted.

“It’ll be tough,” Lana started, “I’m sure it will be really hard for him but maybe it’s better she dies mysteriously than learn his most trusted partner was something nefarious…” she said, climbing into the passenger seat. 

“I don’t know, I always think the truth is the best option,” Dean said, unable to help himself but disagree with her, “Let him decide for himself.”

Sam knew where this was headed and put a stop to it, “Well he’ll never know the full truth and I think that’s okay. No more Roy LeGrange Revival,” he shut his door with a loud metallic groan.

Dean kicked the car to life and they were speeding away down the dark interstate minutes later. 

“So, Munchkin…” Dean broke the terse silence as they headed back towards a modicum of civilization, “How’d you do it?”

“Do what?” Lily asked, nearly half-asleep against Sam. 

“Take down the old Preacher’s wife?” he asked.

“I uh…” Lily thought about it, “Well…I went for her kneecaps and then broke her nose. She went down pretty fast so I could smash the cross…” 

“Ha, ha! What did I tell you?! Go for the kneecaps, works every time…” Dean said like a proud Dad.

“Good to know,” Lana smirked, giving him a side eye, slapping his thigh with a teasing sharp smack. 

“You should know better…a guy like me… go for the groin,” he winked because of its obvious alternate meaning. 

“Oh yeah?” Lana asked before her hand came down and smacked over the fly of his jeans. 

“Sonuvabitch!” Dean cried out, nearly swerving the car. She didn’t actually hurt him but the surprise was more than enough.

“Just testing a theory,” Lana smiled, looking back out of her window.

“Yeah, uh, if you wouldn’t mind — no more theories on this drive,” Sam asked, patting Lana’s shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah, alright,” Lana teasingly gave in to Sam’s reasonable request, “So Lily, you --” Lana turned around to talk up her victorious moment a little more so that maybe the boys would get more comfortable with the idea but she found that Lily had fallen asleep against Sam’s side and she paused. 

Lana and Sam looked at each other in a strange, simultaneous agreement and disagreement: Lily had done incredibly well, she had saved Dean and likely their own lives as well from her actions. She had proved herself beyond strong and capable. However, Sam did not want to repeat what had happened tonight but Lana believed this only proved her point as to what Lily could do and what Lily should be allowed to do, an equal to the three of them.

**Motel Room - Several Days Later**  
They didn’t really get breaks. A hunter’s life was really never truly peaceful, and Lana and Dean had finished a shower with a lot more showering than fun for Dean’s liking, but she was in a mood. She’d been in one ever since the Roy and Sue Ann debacle, and while Dean had a feeling he knew why, he wasn’t good at bringing that stuff up first.

She was drying her hair, in sleep clothes just like Dean was, both of them waiting for Sam and Lily to get back with the food this time. They were trying to have some time to actually talk about stuff, but instead they were kind of just going through the motions. Some fighting, some sex, some flirting with each other: that was their whole several days, and honestly, they all needed to move forward.

“Where is my girl?” Dean asked softly, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Come here.”

She knew what he was getting at, and she sighed, climbing onto his lap and sitting on him, resting her legs on the mattress and slipping her arms around his shoulders. She hadn’t been all that talkative in the shower, and she took a breath as she looked down at him and he cupped her face.

“I thought things would naturally get better on their own,” Lana sighed, shrugging her shoulders. “But stuff happened, and I’m trying to be better, but you deserve more and I don’t know. I’m cranky.”

Dean kind of hated how much he loved how cute she looked right now pouting at him, but he still smiled and stole a kiss before he pulled back and looked her in the eye. “What exactly happened?”

“When Sue Ann locked Sam and I in that basement, cellar thing...I was enraged,” Lana started, nodding when he did. “I was enraged and I think my eyes flashed. I’m glad it was Lily that saved the day. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without bloodshed, and that worries me.”

“No, what has you worked up is that you think being half demon makes you evil automatically and it doesn’t,” Dean explained, stroking her damp hair. “Look, I know that you come with baggage, Lanni. I know that we don’t know all that you can do, but...I need you to see yourself the way that _I_ see you. The way that Lily and Sam see you. You’re important to us, okay? You just are.”

Lana was surprised he even got that deep, but she smiled and nodded, nuzzling his nose with her own before she kissed him tenderly. “I love you.”

The words were whispered against his lips, but Dean heard them loud and clear. It was hard to deny how good he felt hearing those three little words roll off of her tongue. He’d known, but somehow hearing her say it like _that_ made all the difference in the world.

“I know,” he whispered back, crushing his lips against hers for a moment or two and then looking into those eyes that did him in all the time.

“You’re really going to go all Han Solo on me?” she asked, laughing when he said ‘of course’ and kissed her again. “I should have known.”

They shared another laugh before they laid down on the bed together, keeping it pretty PG with just kissing. Feelings were hard for him, not because he didn’t feel them, but because he was scared of people _leaving him_. It wasn’t that he didn’t love Lana and it wasn’t even that he didn’t want to say it back, he just was worried that this self loathing thing of hers, was going to take her from him. Perhaps sooner rather than later if he admitted out loud how he felt. At the same time...was that fair?

If they all died tomorrow, would he regret it?

“For the record,” Dean started, cupping her face again. “I do feel the same way.”

Lana smiled and nodded. “I know that too. You think I don’t get you by now, but I do. We both have been deeper into this world than the other two and I get it. I get the fear of losing someone you love...I also know that you’re one of those people to me now.”

“And you to me,” he promised. “I’m always going to be a pain in the ass, and sometimes flirt with the wrong person for information, and I’m going to make crude jokes, but this means something to me.”

“You wouldn’t be the guy I fell for if you didn’t,” Lana laughed, shaking her head. “You don’t have to consistently tell me how you feel. Just keep showing me.”

She was about to say something else, but Sam and Lily came back with bags of food, Dean taking his sweet time rolling off of Lana when Lily made a noise. At first she had thought they’d interrupted something without knocking first--which was totally not like them--but they hadn’t expected anything. Not really. Lily knew how Lana had been feeling lately, and she just hadn’t been in the mood.

“Sam and I figured we needed good food, so we sprung for a good looking Chinese place,” Lily announced, looking at Lana when she said it.

Lana made a happy face. “Really? Well crap, guys. Chinese food is my weakness.”

Sure, Lana wasn’t _just_ about healthy foods, but she did try...Chinese food was just a deal breaker. She liked the noodles and the meats and rangoons, and Dean smiled at her as she got up to get some food. This was the rare time it was Lana’s turn to turn into the big pig.

“She literally always steals the last spring roll every time,” Dean protested, but it was with love.

“Well, we got a lot of food,” Sam offered, him and Lily exchanging knowing smiles.

Lana smirked when she watched them. “Oh, that backseat got some action tonight.”

“Lana!” Lily chastised, but the look on Sam’s face said it all.

“Please tell me that you’re joking you guys,” Dean said, pausing his movement to get food and looking between them. “Oh crap. Munchkin _is_ sporting sex hair.”

Laughing, Lana shrugged. “Hey, one of us needed to be getting some. _Someone_ insisted on a shared room again, so they had to do it somewhere. You insisted on joining me in my shower.”

“Which sounds to me like it was uneventful,” Lily piped up, smiling when Dean made a face. “It’s like you don’t think Lana and I talk about this stuff.”

“How often?” Sam suddenly asked.

It dawned on both Lily and Lana in that moment that the boys really didn’t realize just how much she and Lana talked and what about. They were constantly talking these days, and sometimes yes, they discussed their sex lives and they always let the other know when they wanted some alone time. Plus, they knew they could train together, and talk hunts, and they were glad that they had each other.

“What do you guys _think_ we talk about?” Lana asked them, looking between them.

Dean made a face. “I guess I just didn’t think _that_.”

“We talk about everything,” Lily answered him with a shrug. “So...get used to it.”

Sam shook his head, “That’s…a lot to chew on,” he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck before he threw off his jacket, his mind still swimming with _what exactly did Lana know_?

(A lot. She knew a lot.)

“Chew on this,” Lily passed him a spring roll, “Before Lana takes them all,” Lily smirked, happy to see Lana being the food hog for once. She and Dean could rest their crowns for a night. 

“That’s right,” Lana embraced it, sucking up a noddle between her lips, “Be quick or go hungry.” Lana reached for a crab rangoon. 

For a moment, the room went silent. Everyone was enjoying the premium treat, filling their plates and fighting over for the last rangoon (Lana agreed to split it with Lily). Finally, after her plate was mostly clear Lily spoke, “You guys finally talked didn’t you?” she asked in a tone of relief. 

“How did you tell her already — ?!” Dean exclaimed, nearly spitting out a bite of fried rice.

Lily gave Dean a look, “I can _feel_ it, Dean,” she said with a tone of ‘duh’, “You two _feel_ way different. It’s been weighing on you both since we left the LeGrange’s.” 

“You know sometimes that gift of yours is a little much you know that?” Dean grumbled, unhappy he couldn’t be the mysterious brooder around her. 

“Hey,” Lana nudged Dean, still going strong with her second full plate of food. 

“What? It’s true!” Dean replied, nudging Lana back. 

“Be nice,” Lana warned, running her ankle along his beneath the table. 

“I am nice,” Dean replied simply, “I’m always nice. I’m the mayor of Nicetown,” he said, hooking her ankle between his legs and holding it hostage. Lana gave him a look but allowed her leg to be held captive, she had rangoons to finish. 

“Mayor of crazy town, maybe” Lily replied, sticking her tongue out. Sometimes, when she and Dean bickered it brought them back to being children. Sam and Lana fought like damaged adults: quietness, sharp tongue, cutting words, angst… but Lily and Dean fought like absolute children. 

Dean shrugged, “Still a mayor. Heck, maybe I’m even the mayor of Munchkinland,— how about that? Ha!” He exclaimed like he won some round of a game. Lana and Sam couldn’t help but laugh. It was a nice reprieve when bickering a) didn’t involve them and b) was silly and unfettered like normal siblings. 

“Wouldn’t that make _you_ a Munchkin?” Lana asked thoughtfully.

Dean’s head whipped to look at her with a ‘oh come on’ face, “No. I took over by force. Wasn’t hard, they were all so short,” he laughed. 

Lily’s lips turned down in an exaggerated pout, “But Munchkinland is a peaceful place! Leave it to the jackbooted to come and ruin it…”

Sam laughed at the ridiculousness of their scenario, “Americans,” Sam shrugged, “Always so militarized.” 

“Says the dude with a knife strapped to his ankle and pistol between his mattress,” Dean retorted, “Like it or not Sammy, you’re one of the jackbooted. Welcome to the new Munchkinland.” 

“Does that make me queen of Munchkinland?” Lana pondered, moving in for a third helping of noodles. 

“You bet it does, Baby,” Dean leaned over and they shared a slightly-Chinese-coated kiss. 

“I don’t like this scenario. I think I have to move out of Munchkinland.” Lily looked at Sam who laughed, “That’s alright, you can come live with me…”

“Yeah, in Giantsville,” Dean winked at his brother, “Where Sasquatch is the mayor.”

“I think he’s fair. He’s got some good policies,” Sam retorted. 

“Oh my God, leave it to Sammy to bring in boring politics,” Dean looked to Lana, “We are not invading Giantsville. We’d die of boredom.” 

Lana nodded, “I think I’ll be okay in Munchkinland. Means I can reach even the top shelf.” 

“Where all the best alcohol is,” Dear replied, being sure to scrape his plate clean. 

Lily wished this is what every night could feel like; the calm, the ease her family felt was what she wished for them on the daily. She only hoped one day they could be this way on more than just a special occasion. 

Lana was right, she was instrumental in finishing off half of the food Lily and Sam had brought back. There was nothing left but scraps and Sam noted they should spring for the good Chinese place every once and a while as a treat — it brought them all together in a way they hadn’t been since… well since Lana joined them. 

The couples began readying for bed in their own strange routines. Sam sat on his laptop in only a pair of worn flannels, clicking through news and emails. Dean polished his knife and checked in on his beloved pistol; just because their dinner had been calm did not mean they could make it through the night unscathed — the supernatural did not sleep. 

Lana brushed her teeth and Lily stood next to her doing her own nightly rituals, “So you two really didn’t do anything. I tried extra hard to be gone longer,” Lily said.

Lana spit into the sink, “No, but we talked…it was — it was still worth it,” she assured her friend, “And it seems like it was for you two,” she winked, “We should start leaving pillows in the backseat or something.”

Lily looked at Lana with a devious smile and Lana quirked her brow, “What?” she asked slowly.

“It uh— wasn’t in the backseat,” Lily replied. Suddenly, Dean exclaimed from inside the room, ”Oh come on!” 

The girls fell into a fit of laughter, “Front seat?” Lana waggled her brows.

Lily shook her head. Lana squealed, “Oh my god!” 

Outside _on_ the car, that was brave and Lana could not have been more proud of her friend. The girls returned into the room and Lana climbed onto the bed causing Dean to set aside his pistol, “We are taking my baby to a car wash first thing in the morning.” 

“Mmm, sure,” Lana slipped her legs under the blanket, “But you know, gives me ideas.”

“Yeah?” Dean’s eyes lit up as he swung his body around to hover over her, “Maybe we take her out for the day… leave these two behind.”

“Right here!” Lily reminded him, afraid Dean would get bold, “Still right here!”

Dean knew that he was just being obstinate, and placed a couple of kisses to Lana’s neck that made her laugh, and then he rolled off of her. These moments were admittedly nice for Dean too, because he got to feel like his family was safe and happy, and he still got to do what his father wanted him to do, which was hunt things. Why he and Lana were like this, he didn’t know, but something in them thrived off of it...and maybe a part of them also _hated_ it--the hunting part.

He had never had what you would call a ‘normal’ life, and it was things like this that made him wonder what that would look like for him. What it would mean if Sam and Lily ended up leaving and going back to their life together. Would he and Lana stay on the road together? Would they end up settling down at some point? Could Dean even see himself doing that? He even wondered if she thought of these things too.

She did.

In fact all of them pondered what it would be like five years from now--even a year from now. All they knew was that they’d cemented some bonds that couldn’t be broken, and over the next month and a half, things honestly fell into a routine. Sometimes they shared a room and sometimes they didn’t. Depending on the type of hunt or who found it, they split up into pairs accordingly, and swapped off who sat where in the car.

“I thought Sam told you to turn the music off,” Lana told Dean gently, trying to be quiet while Sam slept in the passenger seat.

She had wanted to sit with Lily in the back and Sam was tired so it felt like the perfect arrangement with Dean behind the wheel. No matter how much they swapped, Dean was usually the driver, but that didn’t come as a shock to anyone at all. The car was his baby and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

“He said it had to be quiet enough for him to sleep,” Dean reminded her. “He’s asleep.”

Lana rolled her eyes at that, but she was busy sending Lily memes on her phone, so there was a part of her that just didn’t care enough to argue more. She probably could just turn her phone every time she saw something funny to show her, but this was more fun...and would be even more fun if her phone had a better battery.

“We need to stop some place I can upgrade my phone, please and thank you,” Lana announced, turning to look at Lily. “I bet you a dollar that you have more battery left than I do.”

Lily laughed. “You’re the one watching videos.”

“And yet, my statement rings true,” Lana smiled, sending her another meme.

“You shouldn’t need a new phone. My phone works perfectly fine,” Dean told her with a shake of his head. “Besides, I don’t understand what you two do on those things all day.”

Lily quirked an eyebrow at him. “Because you refuse to get with the times.”

“My baby is a dinosaur but it’s okay--he benefits from us being ahead enough that we can be tracked when we’re missing and we get reception better in places that he doesn’t,” Lana explained, reaching forward with one hand to give Dean’s shoulder a gentle squeeze.

They were constantly reminding him of his age sometimes, but he wasn’t even that old. Still, he did hold onto some pretty old things, but he couldn’t even argue that Lana was wrong. Lily and Lana were definitely ahead of him and Sam when it came to technology, but that was good. Someone had to be.

“You know, with a better phone, maybe I’d send you better you-know-what kinds of pictures,” Lana mused out loud in a sing-song voice. “Just something to think about.”

“I am right here,” Lily laughed, shaking her head at the two.

They all shared a smile, Lana not even sure if that would get her a new phone or not, but she was enjoying her time chatting with Lily in the backseat while Dean focused on the road for a bit. There was a hunt close, and since they were finally closing in on Richardson, Texas, Lana was glad to be getting a little back into things. The only thing that was worrying her, was she was secretly trying to figure out just what she could do, but not to use the powers--to suppress them better.

Since her eyes had flashed in that terribly angry moment, she’d been scared of herself and while she knew she had to be somewhat strong enough to kill her father eventually, she didn’t know what that meant. All she knew was that she was demonic and that meant a whole other thing. It also meant she couldn’t be losing control in front of other people who would actually hunt her.

“So, by the way, even though this is probably a ghost, this ‘ _Haunted House_ ’,” Lana explained, leaning forward to kiss Dean’s cheek as he was driving, “I wanna go in.”

Dean made a face. “You...for real? You’re _that_ girl? We are hunters. We’re supposed to be smarter than that.”

“You had zero fun as a child and it shows,” Lana pouted, sitting back into her seat and then huffing.

“I’ll go into the house with you,” Lily offered, smiling when Lana smiled at her. “If Gramps doesn’t wanna have five seconds of fun before a ghost shows, that’s _his_ problem.”

Dean shook his head at them. “Sam was right: you are a bad influence on her.”

Lana just stuck her tongue out at him for that and then went back to sending Lily random things on her phone, only looking up when Lily asked Dean what in the world he was doing. Sam had his mouth open a bit as he slept, so Dean had put a spoon in his mouth-- _while driving_ \--and then taken a picture before blasting the music. Up with a start, Sam knocked the spoon out of his mouth and glared at his brother.

“Are you serious?” Sam asked him. “No. That prank stuff is stupid and it always escalates with you!”

Dean laughed loudly. “What? You afraid of getting a little Nair in your shampoo again?”

“What is _wrong_ with you?!” Lana asked suddenly. “Why would you touch Sam’s beautiful hair?”

The look she got from Dean for that made her give a little shrug. It wasn’t her fault that Sam had beautiful hair, and the fact that Dean would make his brother bald was something else. Then again, a prank war? That could be kind of fun if she could come up with the right thing to get Dean back with.

“Do Lily and I get to play?” Lana asked with a smile. “Because if this is going to be a thing, even with Sam’s protests, then it is only fair we be part of it too. Don’t give me that face, Dean Winchester.”

“You can play but Sammy and I — we get pretty crazy. Sure you can handle it?” He glanced back at Lana. 

Lana smirked, “Really? Of course I can.”

Lily leaned forward, running her hand through Sam’s hair and caressing his neck, “I’m totally in — however,” Lily looked to their driver, “Sam’s hair is off-limits.”

“Oh come on...” Dean chuckled.

“OFF.Limits.” Lily repeated, leaning forward to kiss Sam’s cheek. 

“Thanks babe,” Sam muttered, glancing at his brother with a look of distrust. 

“Great!” Lana clapped, “Game on,” she leaned back, “Better strap in boys.” 

“And girl!” Lily leaned back to take her place again next to Lana. Lana looked at her and the girls immediately shared a look: truce. The girls were 100% a team. 

“You two don’t know what you’re getting into…” Dean said, although his smirk bordered on evil. 

“Oh, babe…” Lana leaned forward again to whisper seductively in his year, “You’re not ready for the heat I can bring.”

“Mmm. I look forward to it, Lanni,” Dean replied. 

“Are we going to see the house before we hit up the motel?” Lily asked, snapping a picture of the back of Sam’s head and sending it to Lana with a little heart eyes gif. 

“Might as well,” Sam looked to Dean since he was the driver with the final say, “Get a look at the house, maybe talk to some locals at dinner — see what they know?”

“Yeah, alright,” Dean said. 

“Lily and I will check out the house,” Lana offered, “If you two want to get a jump on talking to the locals.” She smirked opening Lily’s latest text. 

“I don’t think that’s a great idea,” Sam piped up, “We don’t really even know what we’re dealing with yet…” he said.

“No,” Lana agreed, “But we can handle it, Sam.”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t. I’m just saying,” Sam turned himself to speak directly to Lana. Dean’s hand gripped more tightly on the wheel — this was the point of contention between Lana and Sam that has not yet found a resolution and it all centered around Lily. “—I’m saying that we had a woman’s body disappear in some basement and sending you two in blind isn’t the best plan we’ve got.”

“Sam,” Dean said in a low, warning voice. 

“What?” Sam looked at Dean, feeling as if he was being ganged up on, “You agree with her?”

Dean gave a small shrug. He didn’t fully agree with Lana but he couldn’t say he completely disagreed either. He was on the fence and didn’t want to be a part of this, “I think we can hash it out when we get there.” 

“Dean was fine with the plan and we’ve been doing good with splitting up in pairs — nothing bad has happened,” Lana jumped in.

“Not yet,” Sam returned.

“Okay!” Lily exclaimed causing everyone else in the car to go quiet. Somehow, when Lily got loud it threw everyone off balance enough to sit back and give her the floor, “It’s just a look around. It’ll be fine. Lana and I will handle it,” she said. Sam turned to look at her, tense with worry and agitation, “Handle what?” he pressed.

“Scouting it out,” Lily replied, feeling that uncomfortable swell that grew like a pit in her stomach when she and Sam were at odds which was a rare occurrence. 

“Going off to find a ghost that preys on women and disappears their bodies? Who knows - maybe its more than one pissed off spirit looking to raise hell — this isn’t just any case.” Sam replied, his voice becoming rough with his heightened emotion. 

“Lana and I are going together…she’s just like you or Dean and I’m — I’m not just college Lily anymore I have skills, I’m not an idiot sorority girl, Sam!” Lily replied.

Lana reached out and took Lily’s hand — Lily and Sam rarely fought and Lana knew she had been the catalyst this time. 

“I never said that!” Sam replied quickly.

“Yes you did! You know if Lana said she wanted to go alone you’d let her…!” Lily replied, “You don’t want me to go without you or Dean because you think I can’t handle this stuff! But I’ve faced Bloody Mary and a Shifter and a Reaper and a Wendigo and god knows what else and no — I wasn’t doing this stuff when I was 10 but I can’t change that! I’m sorry I spent my summers at volleyball camp but that doesn’t make me some helpless victim!” 

“Okay…” Lana soothed, rubbing Lily’s back. 

Sam pressed his lips together tightly but didn’t reply. He turned back around to face front unable to say anything without putting his foot in his mouth.

“Alright,” Dean said quietly, glancing around the car, “Think it’s time for the cone of silence,” he said, fiddling with his radio. He called quiet time in the car ‘the cone of silence’. 

Lily felt a few tears run down her face. She and Sam had a love and connection that defied convention — but that didn’t come without its issues. His very love for her often manifested in worry that coddled her like a helpless princess locked in a tower and Lily knew that wasn’t who she was — she was a hunter just like they were; she was only a little late to the game.

Lana’s arm slipped around Lily as they sat in the backseat, furiously looking for a cute puppy thing to send her to at least make her smile through the tears. She knew that the issue here was that Lily wanted to be taken more seriously, but she also got that Sam just wanted to keep Lily safe. At the same time, other than not wanting her to summon ‘Bloody Mary’, Dean never really took this stance with her, so she didn’t know how it felt. Not personally. Lance, Dean and Sam all knew they couldn’t stop Lana from doing what she wanted on a hunt.

Lily didn’t have that luxury.

It bothered Lana that she didn’t, but it was a ‘Catch-22’ because the boys wanted her to be safe so they wanted to protect her from it all because she was inexperienced, but she would never be experienced if they didn’t let her work to be so. Even Lana wanted Lily to be safe, and honestly if it came down to it, she would gladly sacrifice herself for the young woman, but Lana also didn’t like feeling weak or looked over and she knew that Lily didn’t like that either. She was already the smallest of them, and she didn’t want to feel like the weakest too.

This was not the time to be trying to bring it up, however, especially not when Dean had decided that they needed everything to be silent for a while. So, Lana sent Lily a couple of cute pictures of puppies from her phone and then when they got to the motel, Lana was the first out of the car and hurried over to the passenger side of the car to open up Lily’s door for her.

“We’ve got this, thanks,” Lana told the boys, reaching for Lily’s hand. “You two just stay here and try not to kill each other with lame pranks.”

With that, she and Lily were headed to talk to whomever was at the front desk, so that they could get a room for the night. With Sam and Lily fighting, maybe they should get two and make the boys hang out together, but Lana didn’t know exactly how Lily would feel about that. Even fighting with him, maybe she still wanted to share a bed with Sam, and if push came to shove, Lana could make Sam sleep on a cot.

“You and I are going to have fun, I promise you,” Lana told her, handing the man a credit card. “I already know exactly what we should do when we get there and I saw a diner that had a sign for breakfast all day just around the corner.”

Lily knew what Lana was doing, and leaned against her. “Pancakes do sound good…”

“Don’t they? I’ll even eat some waffles and join you,” Lana smiled, rubbing her hand up and down Lily’s arm as she hugged her. “And no, I do not always eat breakfast scrambles.”

Lily couldn’t help but laugh a little and nod, Lana thanking the man when he gave her a key, and then she headed out with her to lucky #7. Opening it up, she told Lily to pick the bed she wanted, and then she headed out to the Impala, where the boys had started to get out.

“Before you go talking to the locals, you’re carrying in all the stuff,” Lana said before she tossed Dean the motel room key and then headed back to Lily. “Come on Cute-sicle.”

Things were tense, but with one look from Lana, Dean handed the keys over. If the girls were headed to the house, then it was important that they have the best getaway. Talking to locals rarely led to the need to make a break for it, and so the girls hopped into the car and headed to the house, changing Dean’s music.


	15. W.W.B.D.

**Motel** **Room #7  
** “Lana’s mad,” Sam pointed out, shaking his head as he tossed his and Lily’s duffels onto a bed and then sighed. “They shouldn’t be doing it when we have no idea what’s actually happening.”

Dean shrugged his shoulders. “Plan has already been put into motion. Besides, Lily’s got someone just as experienced as me watching her back. She’s going to be just fine. They know what to expect with a ghost and they’ve got the rock salt. Also she’s not mad at  _ me _ .”

The fact that that last bit made Dean laugh, made Sam shoot his brother another look and purse his lips together. He knew better than Dean did at this point, that Lana and Lily were practically joined at the hip these days. That didn’t even bother him, he just...wanted the woman that he loved to be  _ safe _ . Maybe he was holding on just a little strong, but he felt like it was for good reasons.

“Look, dude, making up with Lana is easy. Buy her a box of hot tamales. Trust me,” Dean told him smiling.

Sam paused and looked his brother over. “I’d believe you if we weren’t in a prank war.”

“You should believe me anyway, but it’s your choice,” Dean laughed, knowing Lana liked the candy, but also knowing that Sam wouldn’t trust him at the moment. “And a ‘sorry’ card with a puppy on it.”

“How often do you have to apologize to her?” Sam asked, laughing a little.

Dean shrugged his shoulders again. “Enough.”

**The Hell House  
** Pulling up to a muddy path, Lana made a face as she parked. “I should have known that this was going to be gross.”

“Well is it usually not?” Lily laughed, getting out of the car.

The two headed toward the house and Lily pulled out the EMF as Lana cocked the rock salt gun, but the EMF was not being helpful. That wasn’t the greatest sign, but they had had issues similar to this before where things didn’t go as planned right in the beginning. So, they headed inside anyway, and started to take pictures with their phones of the symbols on the wall.

“Isn’t this...well, not during his time?” Lily asked cautiously.

She’d seen the reverse cross symbol before and she knew about it, and Lana also thought it was weird. Plus there was another symbol on the wall that seemed familiar but also wasn’t ringing any bells.

“This is just….weird,” Lily managed, frustrated she didn’t even have another word to describe it, “I mean have you ever seen anything like this?” she asked Lana who had a lifetime of experience under her belt.

“Honestly? No…” Lana admitted, “I mean I’ve been in empty warehouses covered in graffiti and raided cult houses that had their fair share of serial-killer symbols painted all over the walls but… yeah, weird,” she agreed. 

The girls walked a little further, finally finding a creaky old door that lead to a set of creaky old stairs. The musty odor hit them immediately and the girls each shared a look of ‘ew’. 

“Well, here goes nothing,” sawed-off cocked, Lana led the way down the stairs as Lily became the designated flashlight holder. The cellar was dusty and creepy but pretty quiet. There were strange jars of liquids lining shelves. “I hope no one had been planning on eating this,” Lily looked over some of the jarred goods. 

“I really don’t see anything. No ectoplasm, no sulfur,” Lana dropped her gun to her thigh as she looked around from corner to corner, “Literally no signs of ghost-life and just some strange symbols.”

Lily stood by her side, “Maybe there’s an attic? Usually just as creepy as a cellar,” she tried.

“Yeah, alright,” Lana shrugged. The girls headed back up the stairs, “So let’s see if we can find a —“ Lana started, going on about looking for another staircase of some sort. However, she let out a scream when suddenly they found they were not alone in the house.

The strange intruders screamed back. 

Lana, gun raised, looked at two men dressed like Ghostbusters in cosplay. 

“Don’t shoot!” one of them said, “We’re paranormal investigators…see?” he held up an EMF detector, “Just looking around.”

“I almost shot you,” Lana said seriously, “You didn’t hear us?” 

“No!” The one without glasses and the pointdexter hair started, “You see we’re getting this crazy EMF reading and it was going off so loud! Something’s really here…look!” Enthused he thrust the device forward to show the woman. 

“Yeah, uh, that’s not going to work.” Lily started kindly, “It’s reacting to the power lines outside,” she said.

“What?! No it’s not!” he brought the EMF back in towards himself defensively, looking over the device as if for a flaw. 

“Uh, yeah it is.” Lana backed up Lily.

“What are you two ladies doing here anyway?” the one with shaggy hair asked, “Nothing here left to steal,” he referred to her weapon.

Lana rolled her eyes, “We’re real estate developers,” she said sardonically. 

“Oh yeah? Someone buying this place?” Pointdexter started but his friend elbowed him.

“You’re hunting too aren’t you?” Glasses asked, “Don’t know what you expected to capture with those…” he referred to Lana’s gun and Lily’s flashlight, “We’d be happy to give you two a few tips if you’d like….”

“Not likely,” Lana retorted, annoyed at the mansplaining coming from two guys she could take single handedly with one arm tied behind her back. 

“Are you taking video?” Lily asked about the contraption affixed to glasses head.

“Oh yeah, we uh - run a website. HellHoundLair.net. Pretty popular, people love watching the hunts. Never know what you’re going to see…” Glasses was still proud as a peacock.

Lana reached up to turn his camera off. “Yeah, well I don’t think there’s anything to see here,” Lana sighed, giving another look around, “I think this might be a bust.” 

“I don’t feel anything,” Lily offered, “Like nothing’s here….” 

“Oh, Mordechai’s here…” Pointdexter said, “We just have to find him!” he gave a surprise jump into the next room: Nothing. 

**Motel Room #7  
** The girl’s were still gone. Dean and Sam had managed to speak to a few locals around the diner and Dean insisted on bringing takeout back to the room to smooth things over with the girls when they returned. 

Sam was still sour and barely spoke much outside of their hunting business, “I’m going to take a shower. We should call them soon if they’re not back.” He shut the bathroom door, not wanting to hear Dean’s response. 

“Yeah, alright Sammy! Hey - maybe you could try cheering up while you’re in there!” he called after the closed bathroom door to no response. 

“But maybe I can help,” Dean muttered to himself. He found Sam’s discarded boots and poured water into each of them with an evil chuckle before replacing them exactly where he’d found them. He so very badly wanted to prank Lana who had given such big talk in the car but he figured he wanted to enjoy being out of the doghouse for a little bit longer. There was always tomorrow and he was looking forward to it. 

**Outside Motel Room #7 - A Little While Later  
** Lana returned them to the motel, parking just outside the door to #7. She paused when the engine cut and turned to Lily, “It’s not too late you know… Dean’s card is on file - we could always get a second room.” she offered. 

Lily shook her head, “No. That would just… it would just make things worse,” she sighed. She gave her friend a smile, “It’s fine. Really. I mean…we all spend like 25/7 together — we’re all bound to fight sometimes.”

“I guess,” Lana squeezed her friend's hand, “But you let me know if you need me to force Sam to sleep on the cot. I’m not afraid to wrestle a giant.” she smirked.

Lily broke into a laugh, “I will. I promise,” she smirked. With that, Lily led the charge by stepping first out of the Impala, Lana following close behind.

When they reached the door it was locked but Dean was last with the key so Lana knocked on the door, “Babe? It’s us...can you open the door?”

Dean opened up the door and let them in, happily surprised when Lana stole a kiss from him and then they came into the room. It was clear that they were perfectly fine, but it was also still a little tense, even as Lily grabbed her laptop and put the website in that they had gotten from the nerds they’d met at the house.

“So…?” Dean asked them.

Lana shrugged. “It was fine. Literally nothing was there, except these two nerds that were also ghost hunting in very ‘Ghostbuster’ get-ups.”

“But I didn’t even feel anything,” Lily explained, shaking her head. “So how are we supposed to do a hunt when…”

“There isn’t a hunt?” Dean asked them. “That sucks. Maybe we should get some dinner and Sam and I can visit the main witness.”

Lana smiled at the idea. “I love it. There’s an all day breakfast diner around the corner. Maybe Glasses will be there and I can get him to mansplain some more ghost stuff to me.”

Dean had no idea what was going on, but he didn’t like the way that Lily laughed about that and Lana drove the point home by wiggling her eyebrows. Had she hit on some guy while they were out? Was this so-called nerd with glasses cute or something? Whatever was going on, it made Dean make a face that only made Sam smirk a little, which was strange because he was still kind of sad about the fight with Lily.

“Come again?” Dean asked Lana.

Shrugging, Lana smiled at him. “You heard me. Let me change my shirt and we can go.”

“Pancakes sound good,” Sam spoke up, wanting to change the subject.

When he went to put his boots on, however, he stuck his feet directly into the water that Dean had filled his boots up with. He made a sound and pulled a sopping wet foot out, Lana poking her head out of the bathroom and shaking her head at the sight before her as Dean started laughing loudly.

“Really? Water in his shoes?” Lana asked him.

Lily shook her head. “At least it wasn’t his hair.”

That was true, but Sam had to change his socks and pick different shoes, shaking his head angrily at his brother as Lana pulled on a different jacket. Then they headed out to get some food, Sam distracting himself from Dean dragging Lana into the side of the booth with him, leaving him to sit with Lily. He pulled his laptop up and kept researching this whole ‘Hello House’ situation.

“I want waffles,” Lana mused, giving Dean a look when he snorted.

“She doesn’t  _ just _ eat breakfast scrambles,” Lily teased, her and Lana smiling at each other.

Dean rolled his eyes. “Sure.”

“I’ll have you know, I’ll be ordering boysenberry syrup with these waffles,” Lana told him seriously.

Wanting to extend an olive branch, Lily looked at Sam. “What have you found?”

The words were gentle, but she wanted him to know that she was trying to not still be mad at him. She didn’t want to make things worse, she just wanted to finally be seen as an equal, and she didn’t think that that was too much to ask for. Besides, if they could find even just one thing that would point them in the direction of the answer to this case, she wanted to find it. Otherwise this whole thing was a bust and it would time to pack up already and leave Texas.

“I haven’t found a single guy that has died here named Mordechai, but I found a Martin Murdock. Trouble was, he doesn’t fit the legend description of him that the kids told the police. He had only two kids, they were sons, and he never murdered anyone.” Sam explained, shaking his head. “Plus the whole missing girl thing seems to be a dead end too--none of the witnesses ID’d her the same, and with no one missing a girl around here that would have been dead....”

Lily nodded slowly. “I mean, they could have been scared out of their wits.”

“They could have been,” Lana agreed, setting her menu on the table. “Or they were lying for attention.”

Unfortunately that could  _ also _ be true, and they were interrupted by the waitress, who asked them for their orders, Dean trying to turn the charm all the way up. That made Lana give his thigh a squeeze, which caused a small noise to slip out of him that made the whole table look at him. From there, Sam took over the ordering, and shook his head at his brother when the waitress went to pass the order on to the cook.

“Right in front of her?” Sam asked him.

Lana shook her head. “Hey, it’s not her fault. She’s blonde and he has a type.”

“You said the nerd you ran into was cute,” Dean reminded her. “Besides,  _ you’re _ my type. Bossy, brunette, badass.”

“Now you’re just kissing up,” Lana responded, but when he leaned in, she couldn’t help herself and kissed him. Sure it was PDA, but she wasn’t at a point where that bothered her anymore. “You better bring your A-game, because you’ve just ensured that I’m getting you good, and I don’t mean some lame water in the boots thing.”

Dean chuckled at that. “You say that, but I still have yet to see action.”

“This has only begun. Why blow it in the beginning when I can savor you going crazy with anticipation?” Lana asked him. “I know from personal experience that revving you up slowly is the best way to go.”

“We are in  _ public _ ,” Sam reminded them.

Lana smirked and waggled her eyebrows at Sam who could only laugh. He shut his laptop again, frustrated at their lack of leads. Maybe this was just some urban legend blown out of proportion by locals…

Lily could feel that Sam still had his guard up and it was hard to read anything beyond that which was a very strange feeling to get from him — it wasn’t often there was not some intense emotion barreling full-steam ahead directly at her. She watched as Lana and Dean hammed it up and it was a nice distraction from her own domestic issues. 

When the waitress returned with food (enough for at least six people), Dean played up his charm again and Lana just watched and let it happen. The waitress, despite Dean’s usual waitress type being some flimsy bimbo, seemed to catch on to the scenario and held her ground magnificently, not giving in to Dean’s mesmerizing green eyes and bambi lashes which were hard for  _ any _ girl to resist. 

“Let me know if you need anything else,” she said before throwing a wink to  _ Lana _ and walking away.

“Whoop. Well, guess who’s going home with the waitress after all,” Lana teased, finding her jam to drown her waffles. 

“God, yes,” Dean looked at her, “And it’s not even my birthday.” 

“Ugh,” Lana rolled her eyes — she had walked directly into that one, “No. Uh-uh. If I ever took a waitress home it would be for my benefit not yours,” she teased. 

“That’s what you think,” Dean smirked before taking an extra large bite of bacon. 

“Lana,” Lily said suddenly, barely two bites into her pancakes, “Look.”

Lily motioned to the front window. There were tables outside under the awning and two exhausted Ghostbusters threw down their equipment and pick up menus. 

“Bingo,” Lana smirked, a little bit of boysenberry jam on the corner of her lip.

“What?” Dean asked, not understanding what was going on. 

“Those two,” Lily turned back to explain the situation to Dean, “Were the hunters we ran into at the house — you know the ones with the crazy EMF detector and camera?” 

Dean strained to get a look at them, “Feel like I need to go over there and introduce myself,” Dean said, figuratively puffing out his chest. 

“Don’t you dare,” Lana warned, “Lily and I will go talk to them when you two find one of the witnesses to harass. I’m 100% certain they’re afraid of women and I’ll get them to tell us what they know.” 

Dean grumbled, “Still think I should go over there.”

“Dean,” Lana shook her head. Dean shoveled a big bite of eggs into his mouth in protest. Lana rolled her eyes playfully, “Maybe we’ll even teach ‘em a thing or two. The one with the glasses isn’t half bad.”

“Oh come on!” Dean exclaimed, spewing egg out in front of him causing the entire table to express some form of disgust. 

“Calm down, big boy,” Lana patted his chest, “You’re my type, don’t forget.” 

“Bet your sweet ass I am,” he grumbled like a pouty child. 

**A While Later  
** Glasses and Pointdexter were deep into big breakfast platters when Lily and Lana took a seat at their table uninvited. Pointdexter began to choke on his sausage and Glasses looked to each of them in great surprise, “What are you— from the Hell House?! What are you doing here?” he tried to gather himself to seem cool. 

“Wanted to know if you two paranormal experts found anything,” Lana put on her winning smile, positioned her body so the curves of her breasts peeked in his direction, “We were pretty disappointed we left empty handed. I’m Lana,” she offered.

“I’m Ed, this is my associate Harry,” Ed returned, unable to resist Lana’s looks or charms — or the very fact that a woman was giving them attention. 

“Nice to meet you,” Lily said, trying to keep friendly so they could use these two for information. Lana motioned to the camcorder on the table, “So, are we going to find anything good if we visit your website tonight?” 

Ed, who had started chewing on a straw almost choked on it and had to toss it away, “We got some stuff,” he said cryptically. Lana had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. She needed specifics, “You uh- - visit our website?”

“Well, Lily and I were going to if you found anything good,” Lana said, trying to keep up her flirty nature, “Weren’t we Lily?’

Lily nodded, “We know everyone says how haunted that house is so it’s gotta be true right?” 

“Definitely.” Harry nodded however he was just agreeing with Lily but she had a pretty face and was sitting only inches from him. 

“We got some EVP.  _ Electronic Voice Phenomenon, _ ” Ed launched into his first mansplaining. They were still under the five minute mark so Lana had been dead on, “We think it’s the voice of Mordechai himself.” 

Lily and Lana glanced at each other:  _ that’s something.  _

“Can we hear it?” Lana pressed, “That sounds really impressive.” She leaned in towards Ed who quite possibly would bust a nut if she simply came any closer to him. 

“Yeah, sure!” Harry exclaimed like an eager kid showing off his favorite toy. Ed gave him a look:  _ way not cool man.  _

They brought out their little device and played it for the girls. It was quiet static mixed with the sounds of Ed and Harry shuffling around, their footsteps, even talking to each other here and there.

“Here it comes,” Harry said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. 

“SDFAHERJGRRRGGG.” a garbled static-like growl sounded. Lana furrowed her brow, “Play it again?” 

Harry rewound and obliged. 

_ “SDFAHERJGRRRGGG.” _

It was something, but it wasn’t much to go on. No discernible words, no way to know if it actually came from a ghost or just a malfunction or improper use of equipment. However, Lana knew they couldn’t ignore it — there was something about that house that was off and they couldn’t leave town until they knew exactly why. 

“Wow,” Lana put her charm back on, “That’s a pretty big find.”

“We’re going to get so many hits,” Harry said with unfettered excitement. 

“You know, you two could come back to our place when we put it up on the website, watch history in the making,” Ed tried to be suave. 

Lana gave him a smile. She couldn’t ruin this connection because she had a feeling they would need these two in the future if this house did end up being - in fact - haunted. However, there was no way she and Lily were going anywhere with these knuckleheads, “Wow. That’s a great offer but Lily and I have plans tonight.” Lana put on her pouty lips and rose from the table. She’d clocked Sam and Dean on the other side of the lot talking to a couple, “Raincheck?” she gave him a wink.

“Yeah,” Ed managed after a weird noise emitted from somewhere in his throat. 

“Thanks again,” Lily said politely before following Lana away from the table. They barely managed to put six feet between themselves and the ghostbusters before they descended into a fit of giggles together. 

“I was afraid that Harry was just going to propose to you. I’m pretty sure he would’ve shown you anything you wanted. Did you see the look on his face?” Lana goaded as they hung back, watching Sam and Dean with the locals, waiting for the right moment to approach.

“Me? I was afraid I was going to have to hose that Ed down. Thank god his lower half was under the table!” Lily laughed.

“Ew!” Lana exclaimed, only making the girls laugh harder.

They watched as Sam and Dean disappeared into a record shop, so they followed in, keeping a little distance while Dean and Sam questioned Craig, the guy selling things. It was in doing their own browsing, that Lily found a newspaper, holding it up with a look on her face and handing it to Lana. Right there, was the picture of a girl who had hung herself in the house, and suddenly, things were pointing once again to a hunt.

“First we find traces of literally nothing, and then this?” Lana asked her.

Lily made a face. “Yeah, something isn’t adding up. We’ve got to go back.”

“We’re missing something,” Lana agreed, pulling her phone out and scrolling through the symbols again. “Wait a minute...didn’t we just see this?”

“Yeah!” Lily exclaimed, moving away from her and then thumbing through albums and then picking up a ‘Blue Oyster Cult’ album. “So...fake symbols?”

Lana sighed and glanced over at the boys. “Oh, that boy has some explaining to do.” Marching over to them without another word, Lana smiled and interrupted Dean mid-sentence. “Excuse me? Yeah, hi. Look, you said that your cousin told you the story? Because one of those symbols on the wall in the Murdock house is very obviously ‘Blue Oyster Cult’.”

“Which means this legend is fake,” Lily added in, holding the album up. “Start talking.”

The boys were surprised, but it was also nice that the girls were so on top of this, because it was once again proving that they had people who had their backs--had other people that were good at this. Craig looked upset for a minute, but then he just sighed and explained that he and his cousin made it all up and that she was the ‘dead girl’ that the teens had all seen. Now this other girl had gone missing and he was feeling pretty bad about it.

Lily and Lana were glad to know it was made up, but when they left the shop with the boys, they were plagued with so many other thoughts. First of all, if the legend had been made up, then why was it suddenly coming true? Also would that mean that if they went back, Lily would be able to sense something? This whole thing was weird, and they got into the car to head back to the motel, but when Dean turned the car on, a bunch of mariachi music blasted.

“Oh my God, no!” Lana said, putting her hands over her ears as Dean jumped and fumbled before turning it off. “Is this seriously it?”

Sam was laughing, Lily laughing a little too. “Hey, it worked.”

“That was  _ weak _ , Sam,” Dean responded, but he was still shaken up. “Weak.”

“I dunno, it looks like it worked,” Lily smiled, shaking her head.

She and Lana still had yet to pull something, but they had been focusing more on the case than the boys had, so they’d have to put their heads together soon. For now, they headed back to the motel first, Sam hopping into the shower while Lana and Lily pulled the website up again. They didn’t even notice Dean putting itching powder in Sam’s underwear because once again, they were thinking about the hunt.

“Okay, so the site is changing,” Lily said thoughtfully, shaking her head. “So is Mordechai changing too?”

Lana sighed loudly. “I mean...maybe? Dean?”

With a start, Dean turned to them. “What?”

Lana eyed him suspiciously. “Come tell me if you see a symbol you notice. Also...why are you nervous?”

“I’m not!” Dean protested, but it wasn’t convincing. “Well, that’s the ‘Blue Oyster Cult’ symbol. That one...I think it’s in Dad’s journal, actually.”

Sam then came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, having accidentally left his clothes out on the bed, Lana shielding her eyes as Lily looked him over. Even Dean seemed jittery, and just told him to take his clothes and get dressed. Even if she and Sam had fought before, it was hard for Lily to take her eyes off of her half naked boyfriend, and she smiled a little when he disappeared back into the bathroom.

“Okay, even though I feel a tiny bit scarred for life, may I say props? Because damn girl,” Lana told her, holding her hand up for Lily to high five.

Dean made a face. “You know what? I’m right here...”

“And I’m not blind,” Lana replied, holding her hand out. “Can I see the journal please?”

“I will be reminding you later of exactly what you have,” Dean responded as he handed her the journal.

Lana beamed. “I mean, I have not forgotten, but I am still looking forward to that.” With a wink, she opened up the journal, her and Lily flipping through it until they came to the same symbol as one of the ones on the webpage. “Wait...what if Mordechai is a Tulpa then?”

“You mean thousands of people on the Internet  _ made him come to life _ ?” Lily asked, scrunching up her nose as she made a face. “Is that possible?”

“I mean, if 20 monks can use this symbol to make a Golem come to life, can’t thousands of people thinking about Mordechai and staring at the symbol do the same thing?” Lana asked her.

Sam came out (fully dressed this time), having heard through the door. “I don’t see why not. It would also explain why he suddenly manifested  _ and _ why Lily couldn’t sense anything before. Let’s go grab a coffee and then head back to the house.”

They all agreed on that course of action and headed to the diner, Sam walking a little funny when they got there. Lily could feel  _ and _ see that he was uncomfortable, and she wished there was something she could do for him. They ordered, Dean asking Sam if he was okay, Sam saying he was fine. Lana was watching the interaction with a look on her face, looking between them before it dawned on Lily.

“Seriously, are you okay?” she asked him.

Sam made a face as their orders were ready. “I think I’m allergic to the motel soap.”

“But you weren’t before,” Lily pointed out as Dean laughed. “Dean!”

“What? Sasquatch can’t handle a little itching powder? It wasn’t his hair,” Dean laughed, making a face when Lana hit him in the arm. “Hey! We all agreed to this prank war!”

“You’re a jerk, you know that?” Sam shifted again uncomfortably in his seat. 

"Oh, come on Sammy, I’m just winning the war…don’t be such a sore loser,” he teased, taking a sip of his well earned coffee. 

“Yeah, for now,” Sam closed his laptop, “C’mon we should get to the house before someone else creates a whole new mystery to solve.” The four gathered their things to vacate the table. 

Lily, finally feeling Sam’s guard down (she supposed she could thank Dean for the itching powder) wrapped a finger into one of his belt loops to stop him from walking away just yet, “You could always take off your underwear for the day... can’t really hunt a Tulpa thing all itchy...” she said.

Finally, he smiled at her. They were falling back into their norm and Lily was beyond relieved, “Sure you could handle it?” he teased, leaning down to give her a quick kiss. Lily nodded eagerly, “Mmhm…” she said, hoisting herself up on her tiptoes to demand a second kiss. He obliged. 

“Sammy! Lily! Let’s go!” Dean called from across the way. Lana hit him again, saying something about how the pair were making up and to have some patience. 

“And don’t worry,” Lily smirked, glancing to Lana and Dean and then back to Sam, “Lana and I are going to get Dean really good.” 

“God I love you,” he shook his head. The pair laughed but hurried to catch up to Dean and Lana lest they be left behind at the restaurant. 

**Hell House  
** Armed with rock salt and a better understanding of what they were dealing with, the three approached the house cautiously. It was relatively quiet and they piled in through the entryway. 

“Kids,” Dean shook his head, looking over the symbols he had seen before in Lana and Lily’s pictures, “Think they know somethin’ about rock and roll.” he sighed, passing over the Blue Oyster Cult symbol. 

“Okay, Grandpa,” Lana pushed him forward with the flat of her hand, “We should check out the basement again. If it’s following the legend that’s where he’ll be…where it all happened.” 

The four clamored into the basement, heavy boot falls loud and clear that they were coming — no sneaking up on this ghost-tulpa-thing. With a look around, it seemed just as it did when Lana and Lily were there last.

“Yo! Mordechai! What kind of name is that anyway?” Dean goaded with his sawed off raised.

“What are you doing?” Lily demanded. 

“Look, we gotta lure this sucker out if we want to end this dumb legend and get the hell out of dodge,” Dean replied, turning around to pace to the other side of the room, “What? You scared? Huh?!”

“Dean,” Sam said lowly, wanting his brother to take it easy. He held his sawed off at his side and a flashlight in his other hand. “Maybe there’s something we’re just not—“ Sam began, exasperated by this lore. The thing about ghosts was that they always stuck to a script which made them easy to hunt. But a tulpa? This was new territory.

However, he was cut off in his thoughts when Dean suddenly yelled, “Lily! DOWN!” 

With practiced speed Lily hit the floor and covered her head with her arms just as a loud blast of rock salt blew from Dean’s gun. It hit Mordechai square in the chest but the ghost was unphased. He kept charging Dean with his axe.

“No way, asshole!” Lana called, sending another blast his way but he didn’t even notice. Dean was forced to drop his weapon and grab for the axe handle to abate being decapitated. 

“What the hell?!” Dean yelled, fighting Mordechai hand-to-hand as the ghost growled some terrible sound. 

Sam helped Lily off of the ground, “Go upstairs, now go!” he told her. Although she was one to argue, assessing the situation that rock salt wasn’t working and girls liked to go missing — she was up the stairs like a shot. 

However, when she reached the front of the house she ran straight into the ghostbusters setting up some camera equipment.

“We thought we saw a car outside.” Harry said in a friendly tone.

“Back for more I see,” Ed started as if he was going to launch into his favorite suave condescension but Lily looked at them both, “You have to get out of the house!” she called, out of breath, “We have to go! Now!” 

“What is something here? It’s here! Harry! Get the camera!” 

“No!” Lily stamped her foot, pushing the camera down again, “You don’t understand we have to —“ suddenly, a loud barrage of footsteps came up the stairs and they were joined by Dean, Sam, and Lana. Dean was now sporting a bloody nose and Lana looked worse for the wear. 

“What the hell?” Lana exclaimed when she saw the two. 

“Alright, let’s go, we gotta go, now!” Dean exclaimed, not having any of their shit.

“Hey, you can’t —“ Ed started but with one look from Dean he began to back down. That was until Mordechai appeared again with a hefty swing of his axe, narrowly missing the space between Harry and Sam.

“Let’s go! Now!” Dean yelled, and thankfully the group obliged. One by one they all flew out of the house, turning around just in time to find that they weren’t being followed outside the house.

“Good,” Sam started, doubled over, “At least the legend won’t let him out of the house.”

Ed and Harry looked at each other, starch white. They couldn’t believe it: they’d actually seen a real ghost. 

“What the hell were you two doing in there?” Lana took the words right out of Dean’s mouth. “You could’ve gotten yourselves killed!”

“What about you guys! Huh?” Ed returned, not understanding the magnitude of the situation.

“You can’t just go poking around at angry spirits unprepared,” Dean chastised them, “You’re going to get your candy-asses killed.” 

“Okay, time out!” Lily called, bringing the attention back to her, “We need to figure out why he’s not listening to the rules. Harry and Ed aren’t the only ones who like to come poking around here — Mordecai really will kill someone if we don’t figure this out like now.” 

“Lily’s right,” Sam nodded, “A ghost that isn’t repealed by rock salt?”

“Go home,” Lana softened a bit towards Ed and Harry. All of the group was yet unaware of the footage the boys had accidentally caught on their camera in their haste to exit, “And stay out of the house.”

“Yeah, we’ll see,” Ed returned as if he had some tough guy in him — but being nearly axed by a dead guy wasn’t an experience Ed was going to seek out again just yet. Ed and Harry stalked off to their car. 

The four looked at each other to regroup. 

“You think back to the motel? Get another look at all the lore that’s out there? Maybe we missed something…maybe part of the legend has a way to kill him,” Sam said as the four made it back to the Impala. 

“Man I got blood on my coat,” Dean grumbled, seeing a spot of blood on his leather lapel.

“Oh geez,” Lana sighed, the four climbing into the Impala to return to the hotel room. 

**The Motel  
** The Impala parked before room #7. The group was worse for wear but alive and in one piece none-the-less. They shuffled into the room, glad to be back to safe and quiet even if only for a little while. 

What Dean had yet to realize was that Lily generously tipped one of the maids she’d gotten to talking to the day before to take all of Dean’s clothes and put them in the ice maker two doors down. She liked to think of it as revenge for Sam’s hair long ago.

“If the story changes and people believe in it...then we need to change the story,” Lana mused, lying down on the bed and pulling out her phone. “Maybe we should ramp up the flirting and tell those two ghost hunter wannabes a story that lets us kill this thing.”

Dean turned to her as she said it. “Oh, so it’s your turn to do the flirting?”

“Dean, it’s just for the sake of innocents,” Lana responded in a playful tone. “Go change your clothes--you reek of hell house.”

Nodding, Dean went for his duffel, only to see that it was in fact empty. He hadn’t left it that way, and after a minute of looking for his clothes, he stopped and eyed the other three. So this was how they were going to play it? Getting him back already for the itching power? Well that was kind of quick…

“Very funny. Where are my clothes?” Dean asked suddenly.

Lily piped up. “What are you talking about?”

“What is rule #1 of motel stay?” Dean countered her.

“If you want to have a good time, let your girlfriends choose which bed they want?” Lana mused, not looking up at him from her phone.

Dean gave her another look. “Very funny, smartass. It’s don’t let the maid in! There was little time you could have done this when you’ve been with us at the hell house!”

While he wasn’t wrong about that, it wasn’t like anyone was going to fess up right off the bat, and then Lana started laughing when Lily did. It was clear that Lily had done this, which only left Lana having not pranked a single person yet. When Dean saw them laughing, he shook his head and put his hands on his hips.

“Where are my clothes?” Dean asked them.

Lana smiled a little bit. “If they’re not here, you are going to have to go look for them.”

“In the meantime, Lana and I have nerds to seduce,” Lily announced, bouncing off of the bed. “Think you two can handle yourselves?”

Sam was laughing now too as Dean stormed out the door, but then the words hit. “Wait. Both of you? Why can’t Lana just do it?”

“Because there’s two of them and two of us: this way is more convincing,” Lana shrugged, applying a little bit of lipstick. “Some things are better off accomplished by a hot girl. Come on, Cute-sicle.”

Apparently that was Lily’s new nickname, but she smiled as she headed out of the motel room with Lana, both of them pretty sure they knew how to find Ed and Harry. Besides, they hadn’t been wrong about this whole thing being easier with a girl behind the wheel, so to speak. They were certain that they were the two that could get this done and they wouldn’t even have to threaten anyone...hopefully.

“Sonuvabitch!” Dean exclaimed as they came out, having found his wet clothes. “Are you kidding?!”

Lana laughed and high fived Lily. “Girl, that was a good one. Come on, let’s be quick.”

Funny as it would be to see Dean pout about it, they wanted to make sure that no one else got hurt, and eventually tracked Ed and Harry down to a trailer park. As they neared the trailer, they heard Ed asking Harry ‘What Would Buffy Do?’, and it made Lana laugh before she knocked on the door. Oh, these guys were a hoot and a half even if they were so not at all prepared for any of this.

“Did they just squeal at a knock on the door?” Lily asked with a little laugh. “Wow.”

Lana shook her head with a smile. “Guys! It’s Lily and Lana! We just wanna talk!”

There was a scramble and some hushed arguing, but soon they had opened up the door and Lana and Lily smiled at them. Clearly they were intimidated, but Ed was trying really hard to play this as cool as possible, Harry smiling at them and trying to lean against the doorframe, almost missing it with his hand.

“Hi...hi,” Harry told them.

Lily waved at him. “Hi. We wanted to talk to you about the Mordechai legend.”

“Yeah: we dug up some new information we wanted to share,” Lana beamed, reaching to gently hold the collar of Ed’s button up when he and Harry exchanged looks. “You did say you had a website dedicated to it...yes?”

They clearly hadn’t been expecting a single part of this, especially being touched by a girl and they both fumbled over their words before Ed agreed that they had the website. This was already going a million times better than how Lily and Lana had pictured it going with the boys here, and thank goodness, because they needed another win.

“We dug up a death certificate,” Lily explained, handing them over a fake. “From the 30’s. Turns out he died from an accidental, self inflicted gunshot wound.”

Lana nodded and pat Ed’s chest before pulling her hands back. “No hanging or slashing his wrists or any of that. Just died by a .45 pistol. They say to this day that if he’s shot with these special wrought-iron rounds, he’ll die.”

“Fascinating stuff right?” Lily asked with a little bounce.

They were really trying to sell that they were just as excited about this as Ed and Harry, but they knew that  _ no one _ was as excited about this as Ed and Harry. In one fell swoop they had a popular website  _ and _ they had two pretty girls talking to them about ghosts and stuff. Did it really get any better than that?

“And it’s up to you to tell people the truth,” Lana continued, nodding as Ed did. “I mean…‘What Would Buffy Do’?”

Lily clamped her mouth shut as Lana did, both of them trying really hard here not to laugh, but they could tell that they’d gotten through to them, hook, line and sinker. Thank God, because now they could go back to the house after a few hours and kill this thing. They hoped that was all the time that they needed, because otherwise they were back at square one, trying to figure out how to kill a creature that had a mind of its own and not much lore.

“You wanna...come in while we write it?” Harry asked, Lily mostly, but he looked between the two.

Lily smiled at him. “We’d love to, but we have something else to do. Check in with you later?”

“Perfect. Yeah. Later...uh...later totally works,” Ed managed, him and Harry smiling as Lana and Lily waved.

Once he’d shut the door, the girls headed away from the trailer, breaking out into laughter when they got farther away. This shouldn’t be as entertaining as it was, but they were actually enjoying this hunt a lot more than any of the others that they had done.

“I swear to God if I’d winked at him, he would have lost it,” Lana shook her head. “Shall we go check on our boys?”

“I hope Dean doesn’t stay mad but I mean… didn’t he realize itching powder in Sam’s boxers could affect me too?” Lily asked her friend as they climbed back into the Impala.

“Truly,” Lana said, starting the purring engine to return them to the motel. “I really need to get him with a good one, I have a reputation to maintain,” she smirked. 

“You know the longer you wait the more paranoid he’ll be…” Lily said simply, “And I think Sam’s already had it bad enough,” she said in full ownership of her bias.

“I think having Dean as an older brother is like the biggest prank of all,” Lana teased and the girls laughed. In truth, Dean was the best older brother — the  _ die for you  _ kind, the  _ protect you from anything _ kind, but he loved his pranks. He loved to tease and nothing could stop him from cashing in his older brother tokens for his joy of teasing Sam and Lily. 

“Did you know on a case like a month before you got here he signed me up at a high school and made me go in as a student for recon?” Lily asked, “I had to go to a  _ math _ class.” 

“That’s evil,” Lana agreed. The return drive was short and Lana was looking forward to finally ridding themselves of Mordecai and getting back to the usual hunts that followed the rules; it was the least the supernatural could do for them.

Lana and Lily re-entered lucky room #7 to find Sam and Dean wrestling wildly. Long limbs flying in every direction. The pair fell from the edge of a bed onto the floor with a loud thud. Sam was reaching wildly for something Dean tried desperately to keep out of reach.

“What is going on?!” Lana exclaimed, the girls stuck in the doorway lest be hit by thrown limbs. 

“Dean — he —“ Sam grunted, unable to complete a sentence as he fought with his brother.

“It’s part of the game, Sammy!” Dean replied. It was then the girls could make out the object the boys were fighting over: Lily’s shampoo.

“Hey. that’s mine!” Lily exclaimed, coming forward and managing to snatch it from Dean’s hand since Sam had a pretty good hold on him. 

“Lana, quick! Get it! You can take her!” Dean tried as he and Sam still wrestled but now it was to see who could get off the floor first.

“Uh-uh. No way, mister. That’s against girl code,” Lana tossed the keys onto the table, realizing all of Dean’s clothes were spread out over the air conditioning unit. 

“What did you do to my shampoo?” Lily asked, pouting. 

“Nothing,” Dean gave a long, tired exhale when he finally managed to stand, “Sammy here ruined the plan.”

“I thought we said hair was off limits,” Lana pried, shrugging off her jacket and shaking her head at the brothers who were panting, red in the face, with their shirts all askew. 

“Only Sammy’s….c’mon, a little honey never hurt anyone,” Dean shrugged, winking at Lily. So he didn’t get this one off the ground — there was always tomorrow. 

“Mean!” Lily exclaimed. She brushed passed Dean to her and Sam’s side of the room, tucking her shampoo away in her bag. 

“I couldn’t let him do it,” Sam laughed a little, taking a seat, still out of breath. 

Lily, able to stand face-to-face with him since he was seated, wedged herself between his legs and rested her hands on his shoulders, “My hero,” she teased, leaning in for a well-earned kiss. 

“Yuck,” Dean muttered, facing Lana who was suddenly very close to him, “Oh, hello,” he smirked. But she shook her head and slipped by him, “You opted for the single room, babe,” Lana plopped onto the bed, “Not my fault.”

Dean groaned, “Oh c’mon…” he sighed, shaking the images in his head away. He needed to distract himself, “So — you convince Revenge of the Nerds to do our bidding?”

Lana nodded, “Yep,” she was already flicking through her phone, “They should’ve posted the story by now… I say we give it a couple hours and go shoot the jerk.”

“God I love it when you talk dirty,” Dean teased, plopping down onto the bed next to her. He was still fully clothed from Hell House. He had no pajamas. No nothing. 

“You’re really going to have to change, babe…” Lana said. The Hell House stink was  _ real _ . 

“You can go to Lily with that little complaint. Shoulda thought about that before you allowed my clothes to end up in the ice machine.” Dean grumbled. 

“I’m sure I have something you could borrow,” Lana smirked, “I wouldn’t want to leave my baby so uncomfortable…” she teased. 

“God, please no. The last thing we need to see is Dean in your clothes,” Sam spoke up, still holding Lily to him, managing to break apart for a breath of air and a jab at his brother. 

“Not that it matters but I’m sure I look good in anything,” Dean put on his trademark smirk, “Besides, no use in changing if we’re just going back there tonight.” 

“I guess,” Lana nodded, “Ugh, I’m already sick of that house. Is that bad?”

“No,” Lily shook her head, “This case is super weird.”

“She’s right,” Sam interjected, “Even on our hunts with Dad… usually the bullseye doesn’t keep moving.”

“Or changing size and color,” Dean added.

Even though it was definitely not their kind of hunt, but that could be said about all of them now. Lana felt like ever since they had really found their place, there was always a new case catching them off guard. They probably didn't know as much as they did, but she also felt like maybe these things were all happening for a reason.

"You know Dean, if you'd mixed that honey with egg whites, her hair would have gotten softer," Lana mused as she got up. "I need a snack. I'm jittery. Babe? Can I have the keys?"

Dean tossed them to her without thinking and then sat up. "Wait…"

"You're paranoid. I just need to drive," Lana told him while batting her eyelashes.

"Alright...but only because you wouldn't hurt my baby," Dean decided as he laid back down.

Lana laughed and nodded. "Your  _ other _ baby, but you're right."

"I'm going too," Sam told her as he shook his head. "Dean and I have been left alone together too long."

Dean was in violent agreement there, and it was only after Sam and Lana left that he sat up and looked at Lily. "Wait a minute...I let them go together."

"You're a smart one," Lily laughed as she shook her head.

"You aren't gonna help me prank Lanni, are you?" he asked her with puppy dog eyes.

Lily laughed again and shook her head. "Not a chance."

**In An Alley  
** "Come on, Sam. Put your back into it," Lana told him, shaking her head.

Sam glared at her from the dumpster. "You're lucky this is a good prank."

"Oh, I know it is. A little mean but we aren't actually doing anything," Lana laughed as she collected all the glass they could find. "You are going to need a shower after this though."

Why Sam had agreed to the heavy lifting here he didn't know, except that he wanted to win this prank war. It always seemed like Dean won with borderline mean, and when Lana had told him that she had a prank in mind, he wanted to hear it. Perhaps it really was borderline mean, but it would definitely get to Dean.

"I think this is enough," Sam told her, climbing out of the dumpster and nodding when Lana carefully handled the bag. "He is going to be  _ pissed." _

__

Lana nodded. "Yeah, but he's less likely to kill me than you."

__

"Because he's sleeping with you," Sam laughed, Lana agreeing with a nod. "Come on. We gotta do this before we head back to hell house."

__

The two got back into the car and then headed back to the motel. After parking, Lana rolled down the passenger side window of the Impala and after making a small commotion, she and Sam noisily dropped the glass on the ground and then Lana headed into the motel and threw the door open.

__

She hadn't meant to startle Lily, but she started rambling off that something bad had just happened and Dean got up and ran out the door, Lana giving Lily a wink. Lily knew that it was a prank, but Dean was practically hyperventilating outside and asking Sam what the Hell had happened.

__

"Well see, what happened," Lana told him as she came and rested her hand on his back, "was that you doubted my prank skills."

__

Dean whirled on her. "Your  _ what _ ?!"

__

Opening up the door, she rolled up the window. "I would never hurt your other baby."

__

For a moment, Dean was actually speechless, and then he pointed his finger at her. "You...I...your driving privileges are revoked until further notice. I almost had a heart attack!"

__

"You would have been fine," Lana laughed, shaking her head. "Isn't that right, Baby?" Lana asked the car as she patted the hood gently. "We really bonded with this."

__

Dean had to admit, she had gone above and beyond, and she'd gotten him good...but he wasn't going to tell her that. His car was off limits--even if nothing at all had actually happened to her. Holding his hand out for the keys, Lana placed them in his hand and then he pressed his finger to her lips when she leaned in for an apology kiss.

__

"You're in the backseat," Dean told her.

__

Lana made a face. "You're a sore loser."

__

"Munchkin? You're shotgun." Dean announced as he moved to get into the car.

__

"By all means, Sam and I will plot more in the backseat," Lana shook her head with a smile. "We win."

__

Sam and Lana did a fist bump and climbed into the back, Dean refusing to talk to either of them on the drive. However, he animatedly talked to Lily the whole ride, which made Lana and Sam both exchange looks. Oh, he was definitely mad.

__

**Hell House  
** It shouldn't have surprised Lana and Lily by now that they were also once again running into Harry and Ed trying to get new footage of Mordechai. They started to freak when the boys pointed guns in their direction, and then everyone exchanged looks.

__

"Boys," Lily said calmly.

__

Lana sighed as she heard sounds in the basement. "You two shouldn't be here."

__

"Buffy would figure out the truth," Ed responded, looking right at Lana.

__

"If anyone is Buffy at the moment, it's me, and I'm telling you to go outside," Lana told him just before Mordechai burst in weilding an axe over his head.

__

Sam and Dean took the moment to start firing their guns into the tulpa. Mordechai disappeared, but it didn't feel right, and Ed and Harry started to argue about whether or not they had gotten it all on tape.

__

"Didn't you put our information on your site?" Lily asked them hurriedly.

__

Harry smiled at her. "Of course we did...but then our server crashed."

__

"Then none of us are safe," Lana blurted out, motioning to the door. "Shooting him is just making him angry. Out of the house! Go!"

__

They started to move, but a door slammed shut between them and Harry and Ed, and Lily made a face. She and Lana didn't want to have anyone get hurt here, and they both tried to get the door open, but it was stuck. The tulpa was definitely angry and it was out for some blood now.

__

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph." Harry said as Mordechai showed back up and Lana tried to kick the door open.

__

Ed backed up a bit. "The power of Christ compels you, the power of Christ compels you. THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!!!"

__

Getting the door open finally, Sam and Dean started shooting again and it distracted Mordechai long enough that Ed and Harry could get out of the house. Once they were all out, Dean said he was pretty sure they should just torch the house. If he couldn't leave the house...then he'd just go up in flames too...right?

__

“It’s a risk but —“ Sam started but Dean finished, “I’m willing to take it!” 

__

Rushing to the car, the boys fixed up a Molotov cocktail while Lana and Lily tried to calm Ed and Harry down by their car. Harry was doubled over saying “Oh my god” over and over again and Ed was continuously shaking his head, clutching their camera to his chest.

__

“Look,” Lana snapped her fingers in front of Ed’s face to focus him, “Here. Eyes on me!” she drew his near-catatonic attention to her and he seemed to come around a bit. “We’re going to burn this house to the ground and then that’s it. Leave this legend alone. Don’t post anymore videos. Don’t post anymore legends — it dies here!” 

__

Ed nodded, her authority momentarily greater than his desire to get famous for more ghost footage, “Yes ma’am.”

__

“Good,” Lana finally took a deep breath, turning around just in time to see Dean lob a molotov cocktail into the house. Given the age of the house and the elements inside, it went up in flames pretty quickly with Mordecai stuck inside. 

__

“It’ll be fine. You’ll get used to it,” Lily patted Harry’s shoulder, “But maybe stay out of potentially haunted houses for a while?”

__

“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That’s a good idea,” Harry nodded, finally standing upright, his face still pale white (well, paler than usual, anyway). 

__

Lana and Lily left the pair to return to their own boys. Everyone was sick of the Hell House and they hoped the legend was done for good. “What happens if the legend does change again and he’s allowed to leave the house?” Lily asked after waiting for Ed and Harry to vacate the premises to ask. 

__

Dean threw his sawed off back into the trunk. Sam and Dean shared a thoughtful look before Sam answered, “Guess we’ll have to come back.”

__

“Cross that bridge when they imagine it, Munchkin,” Dean slammed the trunk shut, “Now let’s get out of here before the fire department shows…” 

__

Eventually the dark smoke would billow tall enough to draw attention. 

__

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Lana mumbled, happy to put Hell House in her rearview. She wandered to the passenger side of the Impala but Dean made a suddenly “ah”-type sound which stopped her in her tracks, “Back seat, sweet cheeks,” he told her before climbing into the driver’s seat to take them all to the land of showers and sleep. 

__

“Uh! What?!” Lana exclaimed. After all they’d been through?! 

__

Lily tapped Lana on the shoulder, “Excuse me,” she smiled at her friend. She was always on Lana’s side but Dean would not be allowing Lana in the front seat and Lily enjoyed being the center of Dean’s attention for a short drive. Lily took the passenger seat and Lana resigned to the back with Sam.

__

**Motel Room #7  
** Everyone was so eager to wash up there was an all out war for the shower. However, in his attempts to spite Lana for her mean prank, he sabotaged their fight and Sam and Lily slipped in, agreeing to shower together to ‘save time’. 

__

“Really? You could’ve seen me naked but you let them go first? I am surprised at you, Dean Winchester,” Lana shook her head, crossing her arms playfully over her chest. In all honesty, she would have ceded to Lily out of love and affection but to have Dean lose on purpose?  _ Well _ … 

__

“I’m full of surprises,” Dean smirked. He took off his dirty flannel and tossed it onto the floor like a teenage boy. Lana was about to scold him when he started up again, “Just like the surprise they’re going to have…” 

__

Lana paused, “What surprise…” she asked glancing at the bathroom door and back to Dean, “What did you do?!” 

__

“Took a page out of Lily’s book…” he winked, “Just…you…wait.” He composed a quick text message before plopping down onto the bed. He gave her a look and patted the bed next to him, “C’mon, forgive me?”

__

Lana wandered over, still keeping a few inches of space between them, “You made me sit in the backseat.” 

__

“You played a trick on my baby,” he replied quickly, “Think we’re even.” 

__

Lana considered it. She moved in to straddle Dean, one knee on either side of him. His hands came to rest on her ass to ‘hold her up’. [makes a Jim face at the camera]

__

Lana wrapped her arms around his neck, “Where are we going next?” she asked, eager to leave Texas and the ever-changing lore of the Hell House. She needed a change of scenery.

__

“Not sure,” Dean admitted, “But I’d bet there’s no shortage of monsters that need killing,” he said and Lana knew the terrible truth behind his words. She nodded, “Mm…well…” Lana glanced back at the bathroom door, “Since they’ll be occupied for a while why don’t we…”

__

Dean held up a finger, “Well…” 

__

She narrowed her eyes in confusion, “What?” 

__

But he didn’t reply. However, it was only a minute or two before she got her answer. 

__

Very suddenly a great cry sounded from inside the bathroom. Both Sam and Lily yelled in surprise. A great clatter of bodies sounded. After a brief commotion, things being knocked off counters and shelves Sam exclaimed, “DEAN!” 

__

“Paid off the maintenance guy to shut off the hot water and I got a sweet, sweet deal: two for one!” he chuckled.

__

“You’re evil,” Lana nodded although she had to admit it was a good prank, “But you better tell that man to turn the hot water back on for my shower or you’re going to be very  _ very _ sorry.” 

__

“On one condition,” he replied. She looked at him, eyes narrowed. He was on very thin ice (much like his clothes had been). 

__

“Think carefully,” she warned.

__

He just smiled his impish grin, “I get a 2/1,” he leaned in and stole a kiss from her. She had to shower with him in order to have hot water. Although Lana didn’t usually negotiate with terrorists, she could make an exception this one time.

__

“Fine, but I want to sit shotgun too,” she told him, giving him a look back when he looked at her like she was crazy. “I will go get my own room.”

__

She was bluffing, but Dean told her he’d think about it, and then realized as he sat there, that he had yet to get  _ Lana _ back for anything. Had anyone pranked her at all? The girls had a pact it seemed, but Sam hadn’t gotten her and Dean definitely hadn’t. Actually, that gave him an idea, and he smirked a little even though that made her raise her eyebrows at him.

__

“Come on, let’s give those two a little more space,” Lana shook her head.

__

At least they could have some time to themselves, and by the time it was hers and Dean’s turn to shower, she was feeling a little better. She wanted to say ‘bye’ to the guys before they all headed out, but she wanted to not smell like hell house either. What she hadn’t been expecting, was to be pranked in the shower and while it wasn’t cold water, her loud and angry use of his name made Lily look up from her phone.

__

“He’s not getting any,” Lily said abruptly, laughing a little bit. “She’s mad.”

__

Sam laughed and took his jacket off. “I guess that means we don’t have to go anywhere then.”

__

“GET OUT OF MY SHOWER!” the two heard Lana yell.

__

Dean was laughing so hard they could hear it outside of the bathroom, and after several moments he was out with Sam and Lily drying his hair off with a towel, just a t-shirt and boxers on. He was ready for bed, but was half expecting to have to sleep on the floor.

__

“Someone was getting honey in their hair,” Dean said with a shrug.

__

Lily shook her head with a laugh. “I hope you like gross motel carpet because she’s not gonna let you sleep in bed with her after that.”

__

**Trailer Park - The Next Morning  
** Lana and Lily had insisted that they go check in on Ed and Harry, finding them in the trailer park packing up. It was clear that they were headed somewhere, and the girls were curious. After all, anything to get them away from this ghost busting they were trying to do.

__

“I was thinking that Mordechai has a really super high attack bonus,” Harry offered to Ed before they noticed the four approaching them.

__

Ed smiled at them. “We were hoping to see you two before we left.”

__

“He means us,” Lana told Dean, motioning between her and Lily.

__

It was clear that she was still upset about the honey incident the night before, but Dean was still smug about it because she hadn’t made him sleep on the floor--she’d just put a pillow barrier between them on the bed. Now she was all flirty eyes with Ed to spite him though, and Dean did not like that one little bit.

__

“We were hoping to see you guys too,” Lana smiled, moving up to Ed and fixing his collar like it was her place to, ignoring Dean clearing his throat. “Where are you guys off to?”

__

Harry jumped in as Ed stammered. “Well, this morning we got a phone call from a very important Hollywood producer.”

__

“Oh yeah? Was it a wrong number?” Dean asked them.

__

“No, smart-ass. He read all about the Hell House on our website and wants to option the motion picture rights. Maybe even have us write it,” Ed explained, giving a smile when Lana congratulated him.

__

Harry nodded and looked right at Lily. “And create the RPG for them.”

__

“The what?” Dean asked, attempting to reach for Lana, but she evaded him.

__

She was still upset and they were never going to see these guys again, so she was giving someone else attention out of spite. Lana would make it up to Dean later, but for now she was enjoying Dean’s jealousy. After all, she was hitting on nerd instead of giving her hunter the affection and PDA he clearly wanted.

__

“Role playing game, Dean,” Lana told him, winking at Ed when he was surprised. “I know a thing or two.”

__

Taking a step back from him, she moved to Dean’s side out of loyalty, no matter how much she was enjoying the moment. That sounded like a good thing for these two, and maybe it would keep them out of other haunted houses in the future...maybe keep them from making other tulpas? After all, the symbol was still on their site wasn’t it? Or was that just because of the pictures from Hell House?

__

“Anyhoo, we are off,” Ed explained, taking a moment. “Unless Lana and Lily wanna grab a celebratory meal…?”

__

Lily smiled at him. “If these two weren’t dragging us off, we would. I’m excited for you guys though.”

__

“It’s going to be great. Maybe we’ll tell you about it sometime,” Ed smiled back, pausing when Lana pulled a folded up piece of paper out of her bra--she had clearly been expecting this, and Dean rolled his eyes.

__

“Feel free to tell me all about it,” she put the folded up phone number in his hand and then gave a playful salute. “See you in the funny papers?”

__

Ed just grinned and then he and Harry got into the car and Dean reached over to pinch Lana in the arm. He was upset, but when she just laughed at him, he had this overwhelming feeling of relief:  _ was she pranking him again _ ?!

__

“The fact that you got jealous is all I needed,” Lana told him, hands on his leather jacket as she pulled him in closer. “You put honey in my hair…”

__

Dean nodded at her. “I also put a dead fish in their backseat.”

__

“Dean Winchester!” Lana exclaimed, shaking her head. “That’s so mean!”

__

“Well...I pranked them saying I was the Hollywood producer…” Sam added, letting out a noise when Lily hit his arm. “What? We actually worked together on this one!”

__

Lily laughed and shook her head. “They weren’t that bad just...slow on the uptake.”

__

“I say we call a truce,” Lana shrugged. “This was fun, but I cannot be on my guard for this 24/7.”

__

“Fine...at least for the next 100 miles.” Dean promised, and with a laugh, they all got into the car, Lana insisting on sitting in the back with Lily for a bit.

__


	16. Hope Your Orchard Sex Was Freakin' Worth It!

**On the Road**  
Lily and Lana had fallen asleep in the backset. Dean wanted to get as many miles behind them as they could. Sam had updated Bobby about the last of the lore about the tulpa and Bobby informed him of a potential case. Sam told him he’d run it by Dean.

“Couples disappearing?” Dean confirmed, weighing it out in his mind, “How many?”

“Bobby says three, one each year for the past three years.” Sam replied, reading from the e-mail, “Say it’s a small town, nothing else bad ever seems to happen but three makes a pattern,” he offered. 

“After this last gig I’m a big fan of something that works by a pattern,” Dean said, looking into the darkness in front of them, “Where’d you say it was?” 

“Burkittsville, Indiana,” Sam sighed. They were still a good twelve hours from the Indiana border, “Sounds like a pretty standard case. Interrogate locals, get some missing persons files, yada yada,” he finished.

“Except one of us is wanted by the Feds for murder… not sure I should stir that pot,” Dean replied.

Sam considered, “Yeah, alright. Lana and I can do that side. She’s pretty good at getting people to open up,” Sam glanced back at the sleeping pair. 

“Yeah she is,” Dean smirked, simultaneously proud of how bad-ass his woman was and how ‘good at getting people…’ had a double meaning in his dirty mind, “Guess that makes Lily and I the bait couple,” he laughed again at the thought. 

“Hey,” Sam nudged him. 

“Oh c’mon, think about it — me and Munchkin?” he threw his brother a ‘it’s a little funny’ look. 

Sam laughed and shook his head, “Yeah, alright. I swear doesn’t matter if you and I stand next to each other or next to one of them — people always think we’re together anyway…”

Dean gave an animated shudder, “You think people would pay better attention.” 

“Dean if people paid better attention you’d be doing a life sentence for the amount of money you’ve ripped off or stolen from fake credit cards,” Sam smirked. 

“No I wouldn’t — I’d still be the best,” Dean returned. 

“Yeah, okay,” Sam said with the ‘I don’t believe you’ attitude, “Just get us to Burkitsville in one piece, Mr. Perfect.” 

“Probably stop for gas soon,” Dean muttered, looking ahead into the darkness. It would be a minute until they hit a proper town but with at least twelve hours left they’d need a stop. 

“Maybe we should wake the girls if we’re going to stop,” Sam pondered, glancing back and forth. 

“Yeah, alright, I got this,” Dean replied before his voice grew much louder, “HEY LOOK ICE CREAM!” he exclaimed.

Both girls shot up in surprise at the sudden yell in front of them. Lana had nearly drawn her knife from her boot and Lily looked around in total confusion.

“See?” Dean looked at Sam who couldn’t help but laugh, “You’re a jerk.”

“Dean Winchester,” Lana grumbled, coming to realize what he’d done, “You realize you owe us ice cream now, don’t you?” she settled back into her seat, awake for now. No way she was trusting trying to fall back asleep. 

“Don’t get your panties in a wad we’re making a stop soon,” Dean returned, giving her a little wink in his mirror.

“I’ll put my panties wherever I want to but if you keep acting like that they absolutely will not be on your bedroom floor,” she spoke in figuratives, crossing her arms over her chest. She was grumpy. 

“Yeah, we’ll see,” Dean returned confidently. 

“Yeah we will,” Lana retorted. 

Lily leaned forward into Sam’s space to look over his shoulder at the map across his lap, “Where are we?” she asked. Sam indicated they were barely over the Texas border. She pouted, “I’m hungry.”

Sam laughed, “Of course you are,” he shook his head but offered a kiss to her cheek, “We’re stopping soon.”

Lily sighed, “I hope so.”

**Outside Burkittsville, Indiana  
Motel Room #3**  
Sam found them a motel on the outskirts of town. They agreed to get separate rooms this time. It was safer for their investigation if the town didn’t think they came as an overbearing foursome. 

“CIA, FBI, DEA…?” Lana sorted through her little box of ID’s. 

“Feds have jurisdiction for missing persons, especially people from out of town,” Sam offered as he searched for his own fake identifications in his duffle bag. 

“It’s weird,” Lana started, throwing her ID onto the nightstand, “Finally separate rooms but…” 

Sam smiled with a knowing nod, “Yeah, but if we’re going to play up heavy on the Fed thing, best if Dean isn’t anywhere involved and if anyone sees us…”

Lana sighed, “You’re right. You’re right. You do stick out,” she teased.

“Not you too,” he replied. Lana smirked, “Didn’t realize you could hear me all the way up there…” 

Sam shook his head, “No, keep going…see what happens,” he teased. 

“I’m sorry, Sam. There’s no Dean around to tease — can’t help myself.” 

**Motel Room #9**  
Rooms always seemed a lot bigger when it was just two of them, “I don’t see why you can’t _play_ a Fed. It’s not like you have to talk to a real one,” Lily said, unsure about this whole ‘wanted’ thing Dean was going through. 

“Feds usually have to partner with the local cops and uh — probably not the best idea. This handsome mug was cast on the 6 o’clock news all across the country,” Dean replied, “So I’m going civilian.” 

“I guess Lana is the best at getting people to open up,” Lily thought aloud, echoing what Sam had said the night before. 

“Hey, I’m just as good as Lana, but I gotta keep outta jail. I’m too pretty for prison,” he winked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Lily couldn’t help but laugh, “But if we get to play civilians does that mean we get to go to that place with —“

“The pie sign?” Dean finished for her. 

Lily nodded eagerly. Dean continued, “Small town, fresh pie? I mean c’mon. You guessed our first stop after we check in with the impersonators, check out their get up.” 

“You just want to see Lana in her cop pants,” Lily replied, calling him out.

“So?” Dean retorted, throwing on his jacket, “I’ve seen you drool over Sammy in a suit, Munchkin.” 

“Touche,” she replied, heading out of the room before him, Dean locking up behind him with a ‘do not disturb’ on the handle.

**Police Station**  
Lana reached up to tighten her ponytail as Sam tightened his tie, both of them heading into the police station with that air they both gave off. When it came to things like this, they were always so ready to be as professional as possible. It wasn’t that Lily and Dean weren’t convincing, but Sam had that ‘no nonsense’ attitude down better and Lana had a way of being convincing.

“Who do we have here?” the sheriff asked them as they came in.

Lana pulled her badge out first, Sam following. “Agents May and Taylor. We just wanted to inquire about some people that have gone missing around here. Were you not told we were coming?”

Sam smiled a little at that tone she used, always trying to keep the people that talked to just a little off guard. In this case that was a good thing, because the only thing these couples had in common, was that they had all gone missing around here...they weren’t necessarily _from_ here. This was just their last known location.

“No...no I wasn’t,” the sheriff sighed, waving them to his office after glancing at the badges. “Follow me,” he nodded, leading them in and shutting the door behind him before he moved to sit at his desk. “Make yourselves comfortable. Now...what’s this about missing persons?”

“We were assigned to come and check out the place after a few people started disappearing. This town is where the last cell phone tower ping on their phone records came from,” Lana explained, folding her hands in her lap as she sat down. “Agent May and I were just trying to figure out what happened.”

It was at that moment that Sam pulled the file out that he had created, showing the sheriff pictures of some of the parts of the couples. He didn’t want to make the man _too_ suspicious, but he nodded when the sheriff looked them over. How the sheriff responded would help them immensely, because they’d know whether or not in the long run to try and trust him or not.

“A lot of people come in through this town trying to get to the Interstate,” the sheriff explained, pausing at the picture of the latest missing person. “I remember her though. I just happened to pass her on the side of the road before she came into town. Her tire was flat and her husband had forgotten to pack the spare so I gave them a ride in and got their car towed to the repair shop.”

Sam nodded at that, taking a breath. “So...does this repair shop have a name?”

“It’s ‘Lambert’s’. You can’t miss it,” the sheriff explained, and he answered all the rest of the pairs’ questions before Lana and Sam thanked him for his time and handed him a number to keep in contact.

Heading back outside, Lana looked around as they walked down the sidewalk and then her eyes lit up. “A sign for apple pie!”

Sam gave her a look. “I’m sorry...how very _Dean_ of you.”

“Samuel Winchester, there are few delicacies that I enjoy in this life. I might enjoy maintaining my figure, but if I’m going to indulge when we’re in a place like this, it’s going to be on apple pie.” Lana told him, shrugging her shoulders. “Besides, if people stopped to pass through, they probably got food.”

“You just know there’s a 95% chance that Dean’s in there dressed down as a civi and you wanna roleplay. I’m on to you,” Sam laughed, shaking his head as he followed her.

“Please, like you aren’t curious how cute Lily looks, probably blending in with a flannel and a cute tank top. Maybe shorts that let you check her ass out while she’s not looking. Pretend Dean and I are the rabbits all you won’t, but you are both wolves when it comes to eyeing your ladies,” Lana pointed out.

Lily and Dean were seated at a booth waiting for their food when Lana and Sam came in, Lily and Lana making eye contact first, before Sam and Lana approached the host station. It was a very homey place, and they were playing old music, Lana commenting about the place and smiling at how you could see the kitchen through a large opening behind the counter. She could also smell the pie and her mouth was practically watering.

“We were just here to ask some questions,” Sam explained, him and Lana showing the owner their badges.

Hearing Sam’s voice made Dean stop playing napkin holder on the table, and he looked up with a smirk on his face. Sam and Lana really did have that air of authority about them, and when he glanced at Lily, he couldn’t help but chuckle. She was very much doing the same thing as him right now, and appreciating the get ups in front of them.

“I bought him that tie,” Lily told Dean, turning to look at Dean and laughing a little. “Careful, you’re being a bit obvious and civi me would appreciate a tiny bit more attention.”

“She could step on me in those heels and I’d say I was sorry,” Dean sighed, turning to look at Lily.

Lily made a face. “Dial it down, dude.”

No matter how funny it had been, she didn’t need to know, and she smiled up at the server when hers and Dean’s food got there. Dean was more than ready to pig out and Lily’s stomach was rumbling. Plus, they’d asked their waiter a few questions upon getting here, and they were enjoying getting to have a little down time. That, and they wanted to check the garage and the church out in a bit.

“We just wanted to know which way out of town they might have gone...who they might have talked to…” Sam told the owner, nodding when she said she didn’t remember.

Lana took a breath. “While we’re investigating...you think I could get a slice of apple pie to go?”

“It’s the house special,” the owner beamed. “Coming right up. Any for you?”

“No, I’m good,” Sam responded, but he had to admit, it did smell good.

He glanced over at the table that Lily and Dean were at and he smiled, Lana glancing at him and then over to the table where Lily and Sam had made eye contact. They really were kind of adorable, and Lana smirked a little as she pulled her phone out and texted Dean, Dean looking at his phone and then going red in the face, but he grinned.

“What did you just text him?” Sam asked, shaking his head suddenly when Lana smiled at him. “Nope. Nevermind. I really don’t want to know.”

Lana shook her head, but kept smiling. “It wasn’t dirty. Promise. He only blushes when I’m sappy. So, garage next? Everyone around here can just pretend they don’t remember.”

“We need concrete evidence. A car, some belongings--literally anything is better than the big nothing we have right now,” Sam added, taking a breath and then smiling at the owner when she came out to give Lana the pie and she handed her a $10 bill and refused change.

“Trust me,” Lana smiled at her, “this is worth it.”

Lana was right, the pie had been worth the stop. Lily and Dean had stopped talking all together when the pie was served and Dean nearly licked his plate clean. “They left pretty quick,” Lily commented after an appropriate beat for Sam and Lana to have made some distance, “Think this was a dud?”

“Dud? Did you taste the pie? If they’re sacrificing people for this pie it might be worth it,” Dean said.

Lily kicked him under the table, “Not funny!” she said, “Watch your karma.”

“I kill evil for a living, I think I’m good,” Dean winked. The waitress brought them their check which was light for the amount of food they consumed: midwestern small towns could be quite charming. 

“Lana said they were going to the garage so maybe we could take a drive by where their car was found. Sammy marked it on the map,” Dean led her back to the Impala. 

“Is that what civilians do?” Lily asked, taking her customary seat next to him. 

“Just enjoying the sights, aren’t we?” he said, giving her the excuse they would use should anyone ask questions, but Dean doubted it, “I figure if that still doesn’t get us anywhere, maybe we find a different angle. Hit up the college, local lore, college chicks…” 

Lily hit his arm, “Lana will kill you with her heels…” she warned.

Dean paused, giving a smarmy grin, “Yeah…she would…”

Lily shook her head, “College might not be a bad idea… no — wait -- you’re not…?”

“That’s right,” Dean smirked as he found his northern direction and drove them away from the small strip of main street, “My sweetheart’s looking to finish her schooling and who better to ask about the benefits of small town learning than Burkittsville U,” he teased. 

Lily’s lips downturned into an ‘ugh’ face, “One of these days they aren’t going to believe I’m school age then what are you going to do?” 

Dean laughed again, “Yeah, we’ll see about that.” 

“You’re enjoying this too much,” Lily told him. 

“It’s the little things, Munchkin…” Dean replied. After a beat, he hit her thigh gently with the back of his hand, “Get it? _Little_ things...?” he asked, proud of his joke. 

“We’re going to get a civi divorce soon.” Lily replied, looking hard out the other window, suppressing a smile that would give her away. 

“Not if I put the divorce papers on the top shelf. Ha! Dean: 1. Munchkin: 0.” Dean navigated them alongside an apple orchard. He paused his teasing when he neared the ‘x’ on the map. “Well…this looks like the spot…” 

**Lambert’s Garage**  
“Heard you might be comin’ by,” an older gentleman mechanic wiped his hands on a rag, “‘Bout a couple that blew through here some time ago.”

Sam and Lana exchanged looks: this town was too small if word was already getting around to their potential hot spots. However, Lana buried her worry and took the lead, “Glad we’re not a surprise, sometimes it’s overwhelming — you know, Feds, the questions,” she eyed the old man, quickly learning how best to approach him, “Maybe you can tell us what you remember about them? About that day?” 

“Sure,” he seemed amenable, “Can’t say it’s very memorable. They had a flat, no spare. We were able to change the tire and send them on their way. Weren’t in town but two hours or so.”

“Did they say where they were headed next?” Sam asked. 

The Mechanic shook his head, “No, can’t say they did. We sent them North, out of town,” he pointed with two fingers vaguely in the distance, “They left, that was it.” 

“Could you describe the couple to me?” Lana asked, readying her pen and notepad like an interested detective. She was really good at her job.

“Sure, uh…. young woman, maybe your height or so…age too, now that I think about it. But her hair was short, dark like those women on the TV….” he replied thoughtfully, “Her man wasn’t much taller, blonde I’d think.”

Lana scribbled away, “Wearing anything special? Any special marks or tattoos?”

“Well, can’t say I saw much — it was cold around here, around last fall I think. We’re all bundled up,” he offered, “Think she might’ve had a cross around her neck. Can’t be certain.” 

“Alright, thank-you. This has been very helpful,” Sam wrapped up their conversation. He and Lana left the garage and found themselves a private place to talk a few blocks down in the direction of the motel. 

“What do you think?” Sam asked, sensing Lana had something to say. 

“It’s not much to go on, but something stinks. I mean, don’t you think?” she returned. Something was up, her figurative spidey senses were tingling, but she didn’t have anything concrete. 

“Maybe, but other than this being their last known location, we have nothing.” Sam said exasperatedly, “Maybe we can check in with Dean and Lily — maybe Lily’s felt something.” he pulled out his phone. 

“You don’t need an excuse to text her, Sam,” Lana winked. He appeared flustered for a moment but let it drop. Lana continued, “But— don’t you think it’s even a little weird how much he remembered about that couple? Supposedly they went missing from here a year ago. He would have seen them for what — five minutes? He remembers her with a cross?”

“Maybe,” Sam said, “It’s still not a lot to go on. Some people have decent memories…” He wasn’t discounting her, but he couldn’t say he wasn’t still skeptical of this town. 

“Sure, but…I don’t know. My gut tells me we’re about to step in something big,” she said, unable to shake the feeling. “What do you think: go check out the road outta town or go back to the motel and regroup?” 

Sam licked his lips. He hadn’t gotten a response from Lily yet and he gave a shrug, “Think it might be kind of weird if two Feds go walking on foot down Route 12,” he offered, “But you’re right, we should have a look.”

“We’ll cut through,” Lana said simply, “Gotta be a way there down backstreets and backyards.”

**The Orchard**  
Lily looked around as they trudged through the giant orchard. This might have been a small town, but this place was decent sized, with an ugly scarecrow and tons of apples.

“This is why they have so much apple pie,” Lily told Dean as they wandered around. “This must be the pride and joy of the whole place.”

Dean whistled and nodded. “This place is...kind of creepy.”

“I mean…” Lily began, but even she could feel that this place radiated a strange energy. “Okay, it’s a little creepy. Then again, the only scarecrow I ever liked was Dorothy’s.”

“That seems right,” Dean laughed before he pulled his phone out. “Okay, so…”

Lily tilted her head and then shook it. “Lana told you to get a new phone.”

Pulling out hers, they got a clearer picture of what they were looking for, but they still hadn’t found anything--not really. That’s why they were out here at the heart of things, and they both were startled when they were mid row of apple trees and suddenly Lana and Sam were there. They had come here too, and Dean smirked a little as Lana came up to them.

“I’m surprised you’re out in the dirt in those,” Dean teased, pointing to her heels.

“Babe,” Lana answered him, “if women can run in heels, they can walk in an orchard.”

Dean wiggled his eyebrows even though she wasn’t saying anything remotely dirty, and then Sam tucked hair behind Lily’s ear as he spoke up. They both wanted to know what Lily was feeling about the whole situation, and when she explained that she did feel like something was up, and that was all that Sam needed...for now. There was a lot that they were going to need to figure out and they needed proof.

“We need to find some license plates, or keys, or clothes--something,” Sam told them, shaking his head.

Lily took a deep breath. “This orchard feels the most...maybe we should keep looking around?”

“If couples are being kidnapped, the evidence has to be somewhere…” Dean agreed, sucking in a breath of air and resting his hand on the small of Lana’s back. “Maybe Sasquatch can find us some more concrete information.”

“I can go check on the motel records. See if anyone stayed,” Sam nodded, leaning in to steal a kiss from Lily. “Now, you take care of her. I mean it.”

Lily smiled at him. “I’m fine. I’m in good hands with Dean. Though we’re getting divorced as soon as this is over.”

“Sam and I would prefer that,” Lana laughed, giving Dean’s hand a squeeze. “I might stay and try to look for somewhere things could be stashed, but I’ll meet you in the room?”

Kissing Lily one more time, Sam nodded and then headed out of the orchard to go and see if he could find any more traces of the couples that had gone missing. Lana started to move away from Dean and Lily to go look over the scarecrow, but Dean didn’t let go of her hand.

“Hey…” Dean started, which made Lana pause and turn back to face him. “In a little bit, we should sneak back here…”

Lana laughed as Lily shook her head and laughed too. “You are insatiable.”

“And that wasn’t a ‘no’,” Dean pointed out.

“Right now, you’re supposed to be looking for evidence,” Lana whispered, but she kissed him. “Soon.”

Dean pouted a little but nodded, following Lily to keep looking for some evidence while Lana looked the scarecrow over and then sighed. This wasn’t the hunt that she had been expecting, and she headed back to meet Sam at their room while Dean and Lily looked around, Lily leading them to what looked like a cellar door in a corner of the orchard. It made a shiver go down her spine, but the lock was big and it wasn’t going to be easily picked _or_ broken.

“Seems like the perfect place for a secret,” Dean announced, looking at Lily. “Okay, Munchkin. Let’s go back to the motel and figure out a plan.”

Lily nodded in agreement. “Maybe we ask the mayor? Wouldn’t they have the keys to everywhere in town?”

“That’s smart,” Dean snapped his fingers.

They headed back to the motel room first, to figure out the best plan to go and talk to the mayor and potentially steal a key, Dean texting Lana while Lily got them snacks out of the vending machine. Lana agreed to meet him in the orchard because Sam was trying to do some research about the town, and when it came to splitting up, Sam was always more willing to let Lana leave for a bit--they all were. In the grand scheme of things she was half demon, and when push came to shove, they assumed she’d come out on top.

“Keep the door locked, I’ll be back. I want more pie,” Dean told Lily when she came back into the room.

She agreed to keep the door locked and her phone on, Dean meeting Lana by a big old tree. It was darker out, so there was even less of a chance of them being caught, and Lana laughed when Dean’s lips met hers. He loved being paired with Lily, but he also enjoyed getting the benefits out of a Feds get up.

“Keep the heels on,” Dean whispered as he pressed kisses to her neck.

Lana laughed at that. “Alright, but you have to address me as ‘Agent’.”

“That can be arranged,” Dean chuckled, wiggling his eyebrows.

**Back at the Motel**  
“Well this is just peachy,” Sam muttered to himself.

Sam was up to his eyeballs in town history, and also had taken a picture of the motel sign-in book and sent it to Lily, who was cross referencing the names. He was certain he’d found something, but that didn’t mean that the couple had stayed in town. All it meant was that there was a possibility that they’d been lied to, which meant that something extra strange was going on. Then Lily was texting saying they needed to talk to the mayor, and looked up when there was a knock on the motel room door.

They never let the maid in, but she wanted to see who it was, raising her eyebrows when she saw that it was no other than the mayor. So, she’d been talking about him and now he just showed up out of nowhere at the motel? That was incredibly suspicious, and she wasn’t sure that she should answer the door. Keeping quiet, she texted Dean to ask him where he was, and then her eyes shot to the door as she heard a ‘click’.

The man had just let himself in, and she was ready to go for a weapon as he smiled at her. “There she is! The woman of the hour!”

“Come again?” Lily asked, holding her hand up when he took a step toward her. “Not another step...I mean it.”

“Trust me, you’re going to want to see what we’ve done for your arrival. We’re so glad you and your husband could join us. Is...is he here?” the mayor asked, looking around the room. “No matter. When he comes back we’ll show him what we’ve done too.”

Lily was getting ready to show him exactly the kind of self defense she had learned, but she was outnumbered when three more guys came into the room. They looked so normal, but when she grabbed her knife and moved for one, another grabbed her and placed a chloroform rag over her mouth.

“Lets get her to the orchard,” Lily vaguely heard the mayor say as she passed out.

She needed Dean right now, but it had been over an hour since he had left her here, and since Lana had said she needed to take a walk to clear her head, and Sam looked up when she came in the door, cheeks flushed. Could have been the night air, but when she draped her blazer over a chair and sat down on her bed to kick her shoes off, Sam reached over and pulled a twig out of her hair.

“Did you...walk to the orchard?” Sam asked, shaking his head a little. “You smell like apples.”

Lana smoothed down her blouse. “I was just looking for clues.”

“I found a clue,” Sam told her with a nod.

“Really? Well spill,” Lana said excitedly, happy to hear anything that made this a true hunt.

“There’s the faint outline of a hickey on your neck,” Sam announced, laughing when Lana covered the spot he pointed to with her hand. “Really? In the middle of a hunt? Why is Dean just leaving Lily alone?”

“It’s fine, Sam. She’s here at the motel where we are now… how much safer could she be?” Lana asked, having no idea that merely thirty minutes before her arrival, and unbeknownst to Sam, Lily had been taken from a motel room 6 doors down while Sam had been reading about pagan gods and fertility rituals.

Sam sighed, resigning to Lana’s words, “Yeah, alright,” he said unsurely. 

“So did you find anything?” Lana asked, noting the messy nature of the table where his laptop sat.

“Maybe,” Sam replied, “Legend about a God, well a lesser God, known to bless towns with a good harvest in exchange for human sacrifices.” 

Lana knew they yet to have concrete proof but something in his words rang clear, “And this town is the only one for hundreds of miles with a well-oiled apple-growing machine and couples that go missing yearly?”

“My thoughts exactly,” Sam agreed, “I don’t know if it’s proof of the missing we need any more but proof of this — God, whatever it is.” 

Lana nodded, “You know — that scarecrow _was_ really fugly.” 

Sam couldn’t help but laugh, “You know, in my experience it’s usually not the creepy looking thing that is actually cursed… we might be looking for something more normal.”

“I don’t know Sam, I mean did you see it? And it’s in their precious orchard? It kinda adds up.”

“Alright, sure, maybe. But that doesn’t mean that’s where it draws its power from. So, I think that’s our next step: find the pagan God and its source of power and destroy it. You know, easy.” he said although his tone of voice gave way that it would be anything but easy.

“It’s like a terrible game,” Lana shook her head.

“And no one wins.” Sam gave a laugh. 

Little did they know the mess they were all about to be in… 

[Narrator: Hope your orchard sex was freakin’ worth it!]

**Motel Room #9**  
Dean, whistling with a contended grin and grass stains on his jeans, opened the motel room door and started talking before both feet had crossed the threshold, “Alright! I say you download me on the latest over some sweet, sweet apple —“ he paused. The room was empty. 

“Lily?” he started, although he knew he would not receive an answer. The sinking feeling told him Lily wasn’t just at the vending machine or taking a walk. Making a rounder through the motel he found there were several sets of wet foot prints throughout the room, mens sized shoes, that wouldn’t belong to him or Sam. Then he found Lily’s knife dropped to the ground between the beds. 

“Oh Munchkin…” he muttered. They had been slow on the uptake to this town and now it was costing him dearly. Quickly racking his brain (that had been softened by a killer federal-orchard sex debriefing), he had a feeling he’d find her at the cellar they were supposed to be investigating. He loaded his gun to the hilt and wasted no more time, his car squealing out of the parking lot and speeding away. This was his fault and he had to fix it. Because of his pride, his worry, and their ticking clock he elected not to tell Lana and Sam what had happened. Which was probably one of the worst ideas Dean Winchester had ever had.

**Motel Room #3**  
Lana glanced up with a furrowed brow, “Was that…?” she stepped to the door and glanced out, finding the Impala had left the parking lot in a hurry. She closed the door again, “Huh.”

“Probably going for more pie. We should’ve known better than to let Dean play civi,” Sam gave a chuckle, doing a little more research in how to get rid of a pagan God. 

“Yeah,” Lana said, but she had a feeling something was up, so she pulled out her phone and texted Dean.   
“I’ll see what he says. Maybe he and Lily found something.” Lana said, assuming they had gone together.

**Lana:** _They having a sale on pies?_   
**Dean:**

**The Cellar**  
When Lily awoke it was dark, cold, and smelled strongly of apples. She found herself alone in a concrete and dirt room with old barrels and other random stores. Despite the fogginess in her head she immediately noted the only entrance/exit of the room and climbed the few steps, pushing against the double doors — but they wouldn’t budge. Lily had a sinking feeling that giant unpickable-lock was on the other side. So, at least they had been right about the cellar. 

Frustrated, she returned to the floor and knew she had to keep moving, keep doing something. She couldn’t just sit and wait to be sacrificed. Confirming that they’d taken her phone and realizing she’d dropped her knife back at the motel, Lily resigned to opening the barrels and other crates around the room.

“Woah,” she muttered. She found exactly what they had been looking for because stashed in one of the barrels was a treasure trove of random belongings; license plates, articles of clothing, old cell phones.

_Old. Cell. Phones._

Quickly, Lily pulled them out one by one but they had been smart enough to remove the battery from each of them which honestly surprised her judging by the average age of the citizens in town. 

“This sucks,” she muttered to herself, feeling trapped and frustrated: Sam would literally never allow her out of the car again, “Suck!” 

Not wanting to just wait to be killed she returned to the unmovable double doors above her and pushed with the flats of her hands, beginning to yell, “Hey! Hey! You know — this is like terrible karma!” she yelled, unsure if anyone was even around to hear her, “You’re not going to get away with this!”

She tried shouldering the doors again but even without monstrous locks, the basic physics of the situation had her losing hope. Resigning herself, when nothing was left in the small cellar to be discovered and she’d bruised her shoulder well-and-good from her escape attempts, she hoisted herself onto one of the barrels and sat cross-legged, facing the door. She knew one thing for sure: she was not going to be made a human sacrifice for anyone’s apple pie. 

She suddenly regretted the large tip she made Dean leave for the waitress at the diner.

**The Orchard**  
Dean was pretty positive that anything he might need was going to be in that damn cellar. Right now, what he needed the most was to get Lily back, and hopefully do it with Sam and Lana being none the wiser--this was a secret he was pretty sure that Lily would want to keep too. Sam held a really tight leash when it came to Lily’s safety, and it was Dean thinking with his downstairs brain that had cost him this right here.

Trudging through the orchard, Dean tried to keep a quick look around at his surroundings, quickly shooting off a text to Lana saying ‘can you blame me?’, and then he left it at that. He really should have done more than that, but his brain was in overdrive. As much as he had enjoyed his little dalliance here earlier, he felt bad for leaving Lily on her own to get kidnapped by these assholes.

“Come on, come on, come on," Dean chanted to himself. He desperately needed this to go his way, and he reached for the lock on the door and tugged at first, hearing something as he did it.

Lily wasn't sure who was on the other side of the door, but she also felt a sensation like she shouldn't be scared of it. Then she heard Dean call out her name, and she lit up.

"I'm in here!" Lily called out. "Be careful! They might not be fully gone!"

Dean nodded at her words. "Okay, stand back! I'm gonna try to shoot the lock!"

Lily did as she was told, but the shot that she was waiting for never came. Instead she heard muffled voices up top, and she knew that she had been right: they hadn't been far away. In fact, they were surrounding Dean right now in a standoff.

"Some mayor that you are," Dean scoffed, shaking his head. "Let her out."

The mayor smiled and nodded. "Not to worry--we'll let her out."

"Damn straight," Dean responded, but that had felt way too easy. "Right now…"

"In an hour or two," the mayor shrugged. "We need both of you, and you can shoot me if you'd like, but the sheriff here, or really any of the others, will knock you down right after."

So that was what this was: Lily had been the lure to get him here so they had both of them. Well, now Dean was wishing he had told Lana and Sam something. _Anything._ Then at least they would know where they were and figure out how to help. Now he had to be quick on his feet, but he was outnumbered, and he was trying to calculate how to get out of this mess.

"We thrive here," the sheriff explained, his gun still pointed at Dean. "Now we've got people poking around in our business."

"That's what happens when so many people go missing after stopping in the same place," Dean pointed out to him. "Someone was going to suspect something."

The mayor nodded at him. "But after you, we won't have anything for them to find."

So they were the last part of this whole thing, huh? _That_ didn't bode well, but when Dean cocked his gun to pull the trigger, everyone converged on him and it was only a matter of time before he was knocked out too. Opening up the cellar door, Lily watched them all come in and drop Dean off with her, anger etched into her features.

"You're going to pay for this," Lily told them.

The sheriff looked at her. "We'll be back for you."

**Motel Room #3**  
Neither Dean nor Lily were answering, and with the new information they had about sacrificing pairs to a fertility/harvest God, Sam and Lana were getting a little antsy about the whole thing.

"One of them should have texted by now, and I don't see the Impala," Lana told Sam, shaking her head as she came away from the window. "Where would they do a ritual sacrifice? The orchard? I mean, this place is known for its apples, so what would we be looking for?"

Sam took a breath and flipped through a book. "I mean, probably an old tree. This is a harvest thing. Once a year during this time of year? So yeah. Spill the blood in the orchard."

"Then just in case our family just got gotten, maybe we should head there. Lily said she felt the most there," Lana reminded him before reaching for her coat.

"This is just our luck." Sam sighed, getting up as well. "We actually go snooping, and those two get kidnapped. If that's what happened."

Lana nodded and then shook her head. "It doesn't take this long to get pie."

She was right, so they headed out on foot to go to the orchard, Lana still trying to figure out where these assholes stashed cars. It was easy enough to get rid of other evidence, but there was still something missing to the bigger picture. Even so, she rustled her hair in an agitated fashion and then glanced up at Sam.

“You know...getting kidnapped is par for the course,” Lana tried, shrugging her shoulders when Sam shot her a look. “I’m worried too, but they were sacrificing _couples_. Take you and me, when they have no reason to suspect we aren’t who we say we are, or take the ‘normal’ people? We both know who someone would take.”

Sam sighed at her logic. “I get that, but it doesn’t…”

“I know. The turd I love is out there too, but they are both in capable hands. Plus, we’re coming to the rescue, right?” Lana offered, and Sam knew she was trying to make him feel better.

“All of this over apples?” Sam shook his head. “It’s just so ridiculous.”

Lana nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I mean--that pie was damn good. It was. It just isn’t worth people being sacrificed to lower deities to achieve it. They need to sort out their priorities.”

Nodding, Sam took a deep breath as they came into the orchard. “I hate to say it, but we should split up. We’re looking for something that looks better taken care of than the rest of it.”

“Oh...yeah...hate to say it, but it’s probably the tree that left bark scratches on my back,” Lana said softly.

“You two are _unbelievable_ ,” Sam shook his head, trying not to laugh. “Big and old?”

Lana nodded in agreement. “And sturdy as Hell.”

“I didn’t want to know ever.”

“It’s actually a perfect position for someone who is a foot taller than their partner.”

“I can’t hear you!” Sam told her as he started to move in the direction she motioned to. “I really can’t!”

Lana laughed and followed him. “I’m just saying, it’s as good as the hood of a car.”

It was childish, but Sam started to sing out loud, Lana laughing a little more before she dropped the subject and tried to lead Sam to the old tree.

Sam looked up and just had one of his own feelings, “This has got to be it. So…what do you think? Chop it? Burn it?” he looked at Lana, “Cut the source of power there’s no one to sacrifice to.”

Lana nodded, “Burn it, definitely. Can’t leave much behind, you never know….”

Sam sighed. The Impala had all of the equipment to light the tree on fire, “We have to find Dean and the Impala otherwise…” His unsaid words: _we’re screwed._

“Wait, do you hear that?” Lana suddenly pulled Sam away to a bank of a few trees a few yards away. 

“Next year should be better than ever!” A man’s voice said, walking across the orchard with a second man. 

“What’d the Sheriff say to do with that old car?” the other brought in, drawing Lana and Sam’s attention to a pinpoint. 

“Think he wants to keep it but we gotta change that old license plate… Gonna drive it over there now.” 

Guns drawn, the pair followed the men trekking across the orchard to a side road. Down in the distance was the Impala. One man drew out Dean’s keys and that’s when they struck in a blitz attack. They immediately knocked the two men out before they even knew what was happening. 

“I’ll be taking these.” Lana took the keys and realized when the man had fallen and his shirt had gone askew he also had Dean’s pistol, “And this. Asshole,” she shook her head, regaining possession of Dean’s gun. “Well…at least we know for sure,” Lana bit her lip. 

Sam tensed, “Look, the sun’s going down. We get the gasoline and the matches and I say we light the sucker now,” he said, knowing they were on a ticking clock before the town wanted to sacrifice their two new hostages.

“I couldn’t agree more,” she tucked Dean’s gun into her waistband and the pair went into the truck to gather the proper supplies to burn down a sacred tree: all in a day’s work. 

**The Cellar**  
Lily held Dean’s head off the floor until he came around. He had a nice big bump on the back of his head but she was sure he would be okay, “Hey, there you are…” she said, relieved he was conscious again. 

“What happened?” Dean groaned, trying to sit up. His hand fell to the back of his head to find the source of his searing headache, “Ah geez…” 

“They’re going to sacrifice us,” Lily said simply, “At least I’m not alone in here anymore,” she said with a modicum of optimism, “Pretty boring by myself.” 

“Yeah, well,” Dean hoisted himself up, knowing they had to make their escape and quick, “Even if we do make it outta here Sam is going to have my ass...” he gave a shrug; his days were numbered either way. 

“He’ll —“ Lily paused. She couldn’t even say ‘get over it’ or ‘forgive you’ because she knew as well as Dean what this was going to do to Sam, “If we get out in time we can just pretend this never happened.”

“I like your style,” Dean returned. He tried shouldering the door a couple times but it wouldn’t budge, “Sonuvabitch!” he grumbled.

“There’s a bunch of stuff in here, proof of the missing people — we were right.” 

“You think?” Dean asked, angry he couldn’t manhandle the door open and protect her from what he created. He came back down the steps, looking around for a plan but it was looking hopeless. 

Before either one of them could offer a plan, the cellar doors opened again. A group gathered at the top of the steps, two of them holding rifles pointed at the pair, “It’s time to go,” an older woman said as if they were merely going for a brisk autumn jog.

“Yeah, don’t think so,” Dean said, standing in front of Lily. 

The Sheriff came down a step, still flanked by two loaded rifles, “You come with us or we’ll shoot you both right here. Your choice.” 

The rifles cocked.

Lily put her hand in Dean’s and motioned — the longer they played their game, the better chance they had to make it out alive. 

“Hands up,” the Sheriff ordered. Dean squeezed Lily’s hand before letting go and putting his hands up, taking a step forward, “Alright, easy. Take it easy.” But they managed to force his wrists together so they could bind them and they did the same to Lily. 

At gunpoint, they were led to a remote part of the orchard and each tied to a tree. 

The woman spoke again, “We thank-you for your sacrifice. Your blood brings new life — a prosperous life.” 

Dean grimaced. Lily stayed quiet, aghast at the pure devotion radiating from the woman. She respected people who worshipped the devil more than this lady — and that was saying something. 

“Yeah, well, I hope your apple pie is freakin’ worth it!” he called after them as the group disappeared, faintly saying something about getting out of the orchard before nightfall — and night was falling fast. 

“You okay?” Dean looked over to the next tree, Lily twisting her small wrists to try and free herself. “Yeah. Yeah I’m fine. Kinda hungry though.” 

“Yeah, me too,” Dean commiserated, tugging at the ropes, trying to be quick on his feet. 

**Outside the Orchard**  
Night was falling. Lana and Sam managed a gallon of gasoline, their pockets stuffed with matches and lighters and any tool they might need to take this sucker down. 

Hearing voices, they crept behind a treelike, seeing a large group in the distance head for the way of town, “Soon, it will be done,” they managed to hear one of them say. Lana and Sam shared a look: this was not good. 

“We have to find them, and fast.” Sam said as they darted out from their hiding spot to seek cover further in the orchard.

“What about burning the tree? No tree — no deity?” Lana asked. 

“We don’t know for a fact that will work — what if we have to wait until the entire tree is in cinders? No, we don’t have that kind of time. We find them first, then we burn it.” Sam replied, going into protector-overdrive mode. 

“Maybe we split up,” Lana offered, “You find them, I’ll start dousing the sucker? Two birds, one molotov cocktail.” 

Sam didn’t like the idea of splitting up (he never did) but she was right, “Yeah. Alright but… if you think you hear _anything_ — take cover, get out of there.”

“I will, Sam,” she promised, taking the smallest moment to show she appreciated how much he cared for her, “And you find our people. Nothing matters without them,” she finished.

Sam nodded and they started forward, looking carefully for a ‘clear coast’ to enact their plan. Sam perched himself to dart but Lana suddenly grabbed his arm and held tightly.

“What?” Sam asked, knowing whatever she had to say he was not going to like it.

“Uh — Sam….where’d the scarecrow go?” she looked down the row at the empty wooden post. Well that didn’t bode well either, and Lana took a deep breath before speaking again. “We’re on a time crunch, Sammy.”

Nodding, the two split, trying to keep an eye out for a live scarecrow. That had to be how the deity came to them to finish off the ritual of the sacrificing people, and Sam kept his eyes peeled as he moved quickly. Lucky for him, he could hear Lily and Dean bickering a bit.

“I thought you said you had a plan,” Lily groaned, tugging at the restraints. “And yet here we are, still tied up.”

Dean sighed and looked over at her. “Oh, I’m sorry Munchkin, do _you_ have a plan?”

“I mean, I have a plan,” Sam spoke up, smiling when Lily and Dean both looked toward him.

They were beyond happy to see him, and he moved to Lily first, untying her and then moving to his brother to get him free as well. For a moment they just reveled in being freed, but then Lily and Dean looked around and shook their heads at Sam.

“Where is Lanni?” Dean asked quickly.

Sam took a deep breath. “She went to burn the sacred tree. You know...the tree you guys had your fun against earlier?”

“ _That’s_ where you went?!” Lily asked, part proud and part annoyed. “You sure know how to disappear on a girl. We’re definitely civi divorced now.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dean said hurriedly, shaking his head. “Let’s go.”

“Yes, let’s--the scarecrow is walking around here. Be on the lookout,” Sam explained, all three of them moving along and then stopping when the group of townspeople showed back up, well armed. “You have got to be kidding me.”

This was really important to them, and while they all got _why_ it was important, they were still hazy on how people could stoop this low. Then again, it wasn’t like they were sacrificing their own people. They were feeding and helping and being neighborly to every couple that passed through, and then sacrificing _them_. That way they didn’t feel the pain so much, and the town still prospered.

“Should have known that you weren’t real Feds,” the sheriff shook his head. “Where’s your partner?”

Sam shook his head. “I’m not going to tell you.”

“Spread out. We can’t let her ruin this,” the mayor explained, half of the group departing. “It’ll all be over soon.”

**At the Sacred Tree**  
It felt like sheer dumb luck that Lana had even found the old tree in the first place. Sure, she was more acquainted with it than she would have liked to be, but had she and Dean not been screwing around out here before, she wouldn’t have had an inkling as to where to go.

Regardless, she doused the bark with the gasoline, feeling a little bad because the tree was kind of darkly beautiful, but Lily and Dean meant more to her than an old tree. Grabbing the matches out of her pocket, she tossed the can that held the gasoline to the ground, and tore a match off. She was about to strike it when she heard a gun cock, and she looked up, face to face with the sheriff and some of the people from town: all armed.

“I won’t let you sacrifice my family,” Lana told them, shaking her head. “I can set this whole tree on fire as fast as you can shoot me.”

The sheriff smirked at her. “You wanna bet?”

Lana knew he was about to shoot, so she struck the match and tossed it at the tree, feeling a bullet pierce her arm as the fire started. The townspeople were screaming, but those weren’t the only cries--Lana distinctly heard Lily cry out a few rows of apple trees away from her. Lana scrambled behind another tree and held her bleeding arm, hearing the gun cock again, but this time when the gun went off, it was Sam’s.

When the group had disbanded, the scarecrow had shown up out of nowhere and killed the mayor, which had made Lily cry out in surprise. The townspeople with him had then made for an exit out of the orchard, leaving Lana with the others. That had also been just what Dean, Sam and Lily had needed to come for her, and instead of letting the sheriff shoot his gun again, Sam had aimed a shot at his hand.

The sheriff yelped and Dean called out Lana’s name as the others scattered, the scarecrow having followed them all. He still needed another sacrifice, preferably a woman, but as the sacred tree started to truly burn, the scarecrow started to burn as well. That meant that the sacrifices would have to stop, and it also meant that the town was going to suffer because of it. Probably less rain, less abundance of crops--everything that they had been trying to prevent by spilling all this blood.

“Are you okay?” Dean asked hurriedly when Lana came out from behind the tree.

It was clear she’d been shot, blood along her arm, but she just nodded as Dean’s arms found their way around her. She cringed a little at his tight hold, but she didn’t want to say anything either because she liked it when he showed this side of him. Besides, the comfort was appreciated, and she smiled when he pulled back and kissed her.

“I’m really okay now,” Lana whispered, smiling more when Dean wiggled his eyebrows. “Not the time nor place.”

Sam nodded in agreement. “Oh, we’re talking about this as soon as we get on the road.”

He had a point: the townspeople were still an issue. So after heading to the Impala, they hurriedly got their things out of the motel, Dean only letting Sam drive because he wanted to be the one that patched up Lana’s arm. They had a towel spread out in the backseat to catch the blood, and Lily glanced at them from the passenger seat and shook her head a little.

“I’m glad you guys had fun, but uh...I am owed an apology,” Lily said gently, looking straight at Dean.

Sam took a breath as he drove. “I’m starting to think there’s more to this…”

“We kind of...I kind of got back and she was already gone,” Dean sighed, catching the looks that Lana and Sam threw at him. He expected Sam, but even Lana was surprised, and then she looked guilty. “I’m sorry. I am.”

“I thought you guys went out for pie, but that’s why you left in a hurry,” Lana shook her head. “Lily, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize, I was just...well I wasn’t thinking. I was just in a mood.”

Sam shook his head, fuming a little. “This is why splitting up is a bad idea.”

“Except Lana got the tree burned…” Lily reminded him. “I mean I’m not the happiest that I was abandoned for sex, but like...splitting up is necessary sometimes. It isn’t like he didn’t come right for me.”

“That’s really not the point,” Sam responded.

Sam was like their angry father. But since he had justification to his feelings no one tried to back him down.

“Look, Sammy I get it. I wasn’t with her, I left her alone but everyone’s fine now — lesson learned,” Dean replied while double checking the wrapping on Lana’s arm. It had been too close a call for his liking and was happy to put the entire town of Burkittsville in their collective rearview. 

“That’s just it,” Sam gripped the wheel tightly, giving angry glances to his brother through the mirror, “The lesson isn’t learned. You guys think I’m like so overbearing because I don’t like when we split up but look what happens when we do! You two were almost sacrificed — Lana got shot by the sheriff.” 

“Yeah, then you shot the sheriff, she burned the tree and we’re all here — it’s part of the job, Sammy!” Dean replied, wanting to ease his brother but he wasn’t the most level-headed individual. 

Lily’s hand came to rest on Sam’s thigh, knowing the turmoil he was stewing in while he drove them far from Indiana’s border, “I’m okay, Sam.”

“Yeah, but what about next time?” Sam replied, his tone dropping low. He didn’t even want to think about next time. It was more important to him that Lily remained safe and alive than get to live the life of a hunter that he, Dean, and Lana were burdened with from a young age. He knew that didn’t make him very popular but he just didn’t care. 

“We can’t predict next time,” Lana cut in, happy to lean back against the seat, rest against Dean’s side and kick the heels from her feet, “But no one can. Not accountants, not airline pilots and not us.” she offered the blanket truth, “We win some, we lose some. I mean how many times have you two been tied up?”

The minute the words left her mouth she regretted them. Dean, who to his credit had remained in line for this conversation thus far, looked at her with wide and mischievous eyes. 

“Don’t,” Lana warned, “You know what, never mind. I’ll just imagine it.” Dean’s eyebrows raised further, his smile pulling harder at his lips and she shook her head, “No! No! I mean…”

Lily turned around and smiled at her friend who had literally taken a bullet for them today, “It’s too late.” she finally felt a laugh vibrate through her body and escape her lips. It felt good, “You can’t take it back.” 

“No you cannot,” Dean echoed, pulling her in closer, “We’ll talk about it later,” he muttered into her ear before kissing it with a subtle firmness. 

Sam went silent, glad he was driving because the road was a distraction from what had transpired that day and how angry he was at the people trapped in the car with him. He knew they were all lucky — if Dean had had a chance to tell him that outside of the car, Sam probably would have taken a swing.


	17. Feelings Eruption

**Roadside Motel**  
Once they felt confident they were far enough from Burkittsville to be safe and out of any crosshairs, Sam pulled into the first illuminated “VACANCY” motel. One room, this time, the standard double beds. Although Sam didn’t want to be in a room with Dean at the moment — he couldn’t back down from his ‘stick together’ mantra now. 

The four were tired and worse-for-wear when they all shuffled into the room. It was musty and not the most flashy of places but the exhaustion and desire for sleep overruled any fear of what might be staining the carpets.

“I’m going to shower,” Lana said, sleep lacing thick in her voice, “And no one can fight me because I literally took a bullet for you all today,” she teased. Dean, reluctant to let her go, shared a quick kiss with her and Lana disappeared into the bathroom. 

“Sam you still got any of that aloe vera?” Lily asked, digging through her bag.

“Maybe, why?” Sam asked, pulling out his pseudo-first aid kit before tossing her a tube of the requested product. 

Lily shrugged, remaining casual and calm, “Little rope burn on my wrists, no big deal,” she said, happy to have the cooling relief of the gel against her raw skin. 

Sam looked to his brother, his face terse with anger. Dean, albeit guilty, shook his head, “Come on, Sam. Not now.” he started, causing Lily to look up when the mood shifted drastically in the room. 

“Then when? Clearly when I pick my moments you don’t listen!” Sam had been bottled up in the car and stewing for hours — and Lily could feel the cracks in the dam. Sam was straight-laced, logical. He liked to use words and not fists. When he got angry it was generally brief and justified. But this went deeper than their usual spats and the near-sacrifice was apparently the straw that broke the moose’s back. 

“Sam…” Lily tried with a soft voice, unable to ignore the red flags coursing through her mind, radiating from the brothers who now stood toe-to-toe.

However, Sam ignored her gentle plea and looked directly into his brother’s eyes, “I don’t know how to get through to you.” 

“You’ve done plenty,” Dean replied. He might be in the wrong but when Sam crossed the line into his personal space, his tension skyrocketed, “Look, Sam, she’s not a kid. She should’ve been safe in the motel room but the entire town was in on the plan I mean come on!” Dean’s voice raised with each word until he was yelling at his younger brother, “You know I’d never do anything to put her in danger!”

Lily watched, feeling helpless, also upset they were talking about her and she was right.goddamn.there. 

“But you did, Dean! You did! Your games with Lana were more important than keeping up your end of the bargain and it almost cost us!” Sam retorted.

The brothers remained head-to-head. Their fingers flexed, their bodies were electric. 

“Sam — Dean — don’t…” Lily said, feeling the overwhelming sense that they were about to go over the edge and plummet into the abyss, “I’m fine we’re all fine!” She tried wedging herself between them. She looked up to Sam and tried to get his attention, “Hey, let’s just go to bed. C’mon…” 

“Lily I think you better—“ Dean started, making a move to sidestep the girl but his brushing-off ignited something in Sam who finally let go of everything he’d bottled up and he took the swing, landing a good right hook to Dean’s jaw. 

Dean stumbled backwards, his hand immediately coming to his face. He’d get a nice shiner, that was for sure. 

Lily felt tears well up in her eyes — mostly because her emotions mixed with theirs were so overwhelming she had no other choice but she’d never actually seen the boys _fight_. Not like this and not instigated by Sam.

Lana was missing the show while she was in the shower, but it was hard not to hear that something was going on, and she quickly just finished up. She could get cleaner later, but things had come to a head and it was clear that she couldn’t just be in here while everyone else was dealing with things. There was a lot going through everyone’s minds, and when she came out trying to dry her hair hurriedly, she saw everyone’s faces.

“Sam,” she said sternly.

She wasn’t trying to chastise him, but he was already revved up and that was how he heard the words fall from her lips. He wasn’t in the mood to be _lectured_ , especially not by the person who was part of the problem that he was having with all of this.

“Excuse me?” Sam asked her harshly.

“ _OUT_ ,” she ordered, tossing the towel on the counter by the sink and walking toward him. “You and I are going out. _Right now._ ”

Sam was shooting daggers at her with his eyes, but that Mom tone and the way she was staring him down, made him grab his jacket angrily and open up the motel room door. He needed to cool off, and while he didn’t want to do it with Lana, it was clear that he didn’t have all that much of an actual choice in the matter. Lily was distraught, Dean was licking his wounds, and Lana had run out of patience.

Leaving without any other words, Lana closed the door behind her and Sam, Lily dropping to sit on the bed. Dean looked at her, trying to figure out what to say, and then decided to ask her if she would go with him to get ice. The last thing that he needed to do was leave her alone in the motel room again, and Lily nodded slowly, heading out with Dean to the ice machine, not seeing Lana or Sam.

 **Down the Road**  
Sam was still huffing, Lana following him barefoot and regretting that choice. Still, she was glad she had dragged him out, even if it meant walking a little ways down the road while Sam was fuming.

“Are you going to take a swing at me yet?” Lana asked him, trying to keep up with his long strides. She might have been pretty tall for a woman, but Sam still had longer legs. “Because if you are, this is my good side so you can’t hit me there.”

Sam narrowed his eyes at her. “We both know I’m not going to hit you.”

“It would make you feel better,” she replied in a sing-song voice.

“It would make me feel worse,” Sam responded quickly.

Lana sighed and tugged her jacket tighter around her. “Sam... _talk to me_. I’m not your brother. I’m not Lily. I can take anything you want to throw at me.”

“You aren’t _careful enough with her_ ,” Sam told her, stopping his walking and turning to look at her.

They were going to have this out right here on the side of the road, and Lana swallowed when the words settled in. She should have known that it was about this, and about how every time he didn’t want to split up, something happened because they did. Even when it ended up with them doing what they needed to do to get the job done, someone ended up wounded, and Lily ended up in trouble--even when she saved the day.

“You love her so much that her being in trouble drives you nuts,” Lana told him, holding her hand up to stop him when he started to talk back. “I am just as much to blame for what happened in that orchard.”

Sam nodded at her. “Trust me, I know that. You and Dean were reckless, and Lily paid the price.”

“Dean and I need to get better at picking when is a good time to be reckless.”

“That’s an _understatement_.”

“But you need to trust the woman that you love more than you do.”

The words cut Sam like a knife, and once again he felt livid, even if Lana had a point. As much as he wanted to tuck Lily right under his wing and keep her there, she _chose_ to do this with them. In a way, he was also hurting her because he wasn’t letting her actually be one of them. It wasn’t that simple to Sam, however. He, Dean and Lana had been born into this, and Lily had had hunting thrust upon her and he had _never_ wanted that for her.

“What if next time you get her killed?” Sam asked her seriously, but his tone was gentler.

Lana shook her head. “Sam...I can honestly tell you that Dean and I would never purposefully get Lily killed. I know that accidents happen, I know we were wrong back there, but if you root yourself in ‘what ifs’, you are going to push her away and you know that. She didn’t ask for any of this, but she’s in it now. If you don’t let her all the way in, she is going to grow to resent you.”

“You don’t know that,” Sam retorted, but he felt like she was right.

The harder Sam pushed this, the more Lily would think he had walls up, and that destroyed even the strongest of relationships. It was just hard for Sam to lighten up on this issue because he would rather Lily hate him and be alive, than be placated and get caught in the crossfires. Her life meant so much more to him than anything else, and even as he argued it, he also knew that Lana got that too. That annoyed him, quite frankly.

“Sammy…” Lana said gently, taking a step toward him and nodding when he softened a little. “I need you to look me in the eye and just tell me what winds you up the most about it, okay?”

Sam avoided eye contact for a moment, but then their eyes met. “ _I can’t lose her_.”

“ _I know_ ,” Lana replied softly, reaching for his hands to give them a squeeze. “You were out until you were dragged back in. You saw a future with a white picket fence, yeah?”

“Not literally...but yes,” Sam admitted, shaking his head. “At first I thought you’d make Dean want to see it too, but...I don’t think any of us get that. Not now...maybe we were never meant to.”

“Okay, now you’re being a ‘Negative Nancy’, but I hear you. I probably won’t ever get that life,” Lana admitted, pulling her hands back and putting them in her jacket pockets. “Lance and I dated for three years you know. He wanted to save me from hunting--Hell, the guy proposed.”

Nodding, Sam smiled ever so slightly. “Something tells me you haven’t talked to Dean about this?”

“Are you kidding? No. He’d never sit through it,” Lana told him, smiling when Sam laughed. He was still upset, but he was calming down. “I always knew I was different, and I knew before Lance tried that that white picket fence life isn’t what I’m going to get. I mean, I’ve thought about it…”

Sam was surprised to hear her say that, but he nodded at her, making eye contact so that she knew that he was honestly listening to her. Hunting sometimes felt like it was a game to her and Dean, but as Sam listened to her pouring her heart out to him, he realized that Lana was not and never would be, one hundred percent in the hunting world. He also realized they had more in common than he wanted to previously admit.

“Can you see yourself settled?” Sam asked her slowly.

Lana shrugged her shoulders. “When I was little, I always thought that some day, I’d fall in love, get married and become a mom. Raise my kids the way that my mother raised me. Having roots, getting to go to school, but still knowing how to defend themselves. A balance.”

“Yeah...moving from place to place is rough on kids,” Sam agreed with her. “Your mother did right by you on that front for sure.”

“She did,” Lana smiled with a nod. “I’m half demon though. I’ve been struggling with that picture since I found out, and even more so since I fell for your absolute dork of a brother. When I say dork, I mean dork. He refuses to get with the times of technology, he’s still trying to live in his 20’s even though he’s 30, he jokes to avoid deep emotional conversations, and _I’m in love with him_. I may not have the history with him that you have with Lily when it comes to a solid relationship, but everything I ever thought my future was going to be, changed with him. So yes, we make dumb choices like having sex in an orchard when he’s supposed to be watching Lily and I’m supposed to be studying with you. Yes, we can be absolute pains in the ass, but that future I want also has you and Lily in it. You guys are my _family_ , and to the best of my abilities, I will protect you. All of you--even from myself.”

That was a lot for her to lay on him, but it did actually help him to calm down. Perhaps it was also the fact that it was nippy outside and the chill helped, but actually bonding more with Lana made him feel a little safer too. It didn’t mean he was going to let up any time soon on his stance, but it did mean that he was at least going to _try_. They just all had to try too, and meet him in the middle.

“I just need us all to meet in the middle,” Sam admitted, nodding at her. “And for the record, I know that should anything inside of you snap, you’d still hurt yourself before you hurt any of us. It isn’t that I don’t trust you to take a bullet for us-- _literally_.”

Lana laughed and glanced at her arm. “I mean, I’ve been through worse,” she smiled, nodding when he motioned back behind them. He was ready to go back and face the music, and she was too. “Thanks for listening.”

“Of course,” Sam nodded, glancing at her. “Thank you for understanding.”

“Of course,” Lana echoed, bumping him with her hip and laughing when he did. “I always want you to call me out when I need it. Lord knows I’m going to do the same to you.”

“I expect it,” Sam told her as he glanced at her feet. “You really should have worn shoes.”

Lana laughed and looked up at him. “Are you kidding? I was born to be ‘nature girl’.”

 **In the Motel Room**  
After they’d gotten back with ice, Dean had placed it against his face and sat down on the motel bed with a shake of his head. He felt like he had deserved the right hook, but he also knew that Lily was distraught and he didn’t have the right words to make her feel better--at least he didn’t think that he did.

“I really didn’t mean to get you hurt,” Dean told her, shaking his head when she started to protest. “I never should have left you alone when we knew something was up. An outdoor tryst with Lanni isn’t worth you getting hurt. I mean it was great, don’t get me wrong, and I would gladly have another tryst like it, but in a better controlled situation.”

Lily smiled just a little bit. “I’m glad you had fun. You can’t predict when things are going to happen, but maybe Sam’s a little right.”

“I have been more reckless than is necessary,” Dean agreed with a nod. “I got caught up in...well…”

“In actually being in love?” Lily asked softly, smiling more when Dean gave her a look. “I can’t help it, okay? I know it’s new for you, and it’s fun--and you deserve this. Sam is just worried and we can’t discount his feelings.”

Dean nodded in agreement. “Next time Lana and I blow off part of a hunt for sex, we’ll make sure we’re paired up with each other.”

“Yeah, cause next time you and I get paired together we’re going as siblings. You’re a terrible husband,” Lily told him, “I don’t know what Lana sees in you,” she teased. Her mind was still muddled with 101 different emotions but something about talking with Dean one-on-one cut through the static. He was her best friend and that meant something…even if he liked to have sex in a cursed apple orchard. 

“Me either,” he related quite honestly despite her joke. He groaned as he moved the ice, just hoping to keep the swelling down, “Can’t remember the last time Sammy hit me…his form’s a little off but the dude packs a punch.”

“He could’ve broken your jaw,” she said worriedly, “There’s no way Lana wants to see you in a hospital so soon.”

“Yeah, but he didn’t. She’ll just have to deal with a gnarly bruise on my ‘pretty’ face,” he smirked, somewhat coming back around to the Dean he always was around her, “But it stings. Damn.” 

“You know she’ll kiss it and make it better don’t be a baby,” she smirked. She resigned to changing into an oversized shirt to sleep in and brushing her teeth, honestly not knowing if Sam and Lana were coming back or if Lana was going to make Sam sleep in a separate room — but as she finished up the door opened again and Sam and Lana returned. Their emotions were much calmer than they had been when they left and Lily was relieved: whatever Lana did helped. She wasn’t sure how she survived the boys this long without her. 

“You’re back,” Dean broke the silence as the motel door clicked shut behind them. 

“Yeah,” Sam returned, still cooling on his brother. They had things they needed to talk about — but not tonight, and not with the girls present, “We’re back.” 

Lana slipped onto the bed next to Dean giving a ‘it’ll be okay’ look before she began shoving her feet underneath him, “I forgot my shoes.”

“And how is that my fault?!” Dean jumped as her frozen toes hit his bare calves, “Jesus!” 

Sam approached Lily who looked up at him, unable to know where to begin. He rested his hands on her shoulders and rubbed his thumbs along her collar bones, “Look I —“ he seemed to want to say something more profound but it waned and he wasn’t ready so he went with, “I can’t tell you I’m sorry I hit him. I’m not going to lie — but I’m sorry I didn’t take it outside. You didn’t need to see us like that.” 

Lily nodded. Despite the barrage of emotions he was working to bottle back up she felt genuine remorse and it almost saddened her but something she loved about Sam was his strong and unwavering moral compass — even when that led to a motel room brawl, “Brothers fight,” she managed, “Just— I don’t love it when it’s over me.” she finished with a sigh. 

Sam nodded, “I know,” he leaned down and kissed the top of her head, drawing her into his body. He was always in awe of how she fit into him like the last piece to his fucked up puzzle. How the world around them would go utterly silent into a place that only belonged to them. When the quiet passed and he let go his hold on Lily he started up again, “I’m going to — take a shower and… get my head together….” 

“I’ll warm up the bed,” she offered. She and Sam had to have a talk soon too but now was not the time and she would not deny him some solo time to get himself straight and in a place where he might be able to get some rest tonight with his big head against the pillow. 

“Perfect,” he managed half a smile before they parted and Sam disappeared into the bathroom Lana had vacated in a hurry. Lily returned to their bed, hoping she could manage sleep tonight because things seemed to cool off and they could all deal with the fall out in the morning with clear heads and coffee in their hands. 

“See?” Lily looked over to find Lana planting a gentle kiss or two against his bruise before making sure he returned the ice to abate swelling. 

“Don’t start,” Dean warned her, his teasing brother tone returning — he was the first to force things to go back to normal and avoid anymore talk of what happened. 

Lana looked over her lover to Lily and let out a breath. Her body settled against Dean but she couldn’t help but check in across the room, “Are you okay?” 

Dean’s eyes flickered sideways in anticipation of her answer. 

Lily nodded, “Yeah,” she replied with a small ‘thanks’ smile. There was a lot more she wanted to tell Lana but nothing else came up but, “Yeah I’m good.” 

“I think the boys owe us the good stuff in the morning,” Lana tempted Lily before giving Dean a pointed look, “Before we get up,” she poked his chest. 

Dean sighed and finally removed the melted ice from his face and set it aside, “Yeah, yeah. Ugh… my baby in a Starbucks drive-thru… it hurts her cred, you know?” he whined making Lana laugh. 

“It’s your penance,” Lana replied simply, “And you have to take Sam.”

“What?” Dean started but when she poked his chest harder he brought it down, “We’ll— see,” he managed. He did not allow her to argue further because he pushed his plush lips to hers and stole a sweet kiss that knocked the words right off of her tongue. 

Lily smirked. Lana was brilliant. She would simultaneously force the brothers alone to talk and get them coffee out of the deal. Lily wanted to be Lana when she grew up, of that she was sure. 

Finally Sam finished up after an extra long shower — and tonight Dean even avoided making a masturbation joke because that’s where they all were. Sam climbed into the bed and Lily wasted no time in finding her form against him, always finding peace wrapped tightly in his arms. 

Lana, seeing the couple quietly reconciling, reached over and turned off the lamp, wanting to afford them the smallest bit of privacy. She settled herself down against Dean and her feet beneath him and no one said anything else. They didn’t have to. This was where they belonged, no matter the issues ahead. 

**Early Morning**  
“Hey, get up,” Dean tossed Sam his shirt, the younger man blinking in confusion.

“What?” was all Sam managed. Dean was never up before him, especially when the sun wasn’t up yet. Sam managed to gently extract his arm from under Lily and he sat up, “What’s going on?”

“We’re going to get coffee and you and I — we’re going to have a talk,” Dean’s older brother tone was in overdrive. Sam, knowing it was best if they could leave the girls asleep, got dressed in silence and left the motel room in favor of the Impala. This morning — it was occupancy two. 

**Inside the Motel Room**  
When the door clicked shut, Lana’s eyes opened. It was a rough night of sleep despite her exhaustion and aching arm. She rolled over just in time to make out that Lily’s eyes were open too and staring at the ceiling. 

Suddenly, Lily spoke, “You’re a genius, you know that?”

“What?” Lana mumbled with sleep still thick in her voice. 

“Bending the boys guilt into the good coffee?” Lily rolled over to face her friend across the room, “Evil genius.” 

**The Impala**  
The first few minutes of the drive were silent. Dean had Sam give him directions to the nearest town but just as the sun began to peak over the horizon, Dean knew it was his job to break the ice, “Look, Sammy. I’m not going to ask for an apology — I know why you hit me. Hell, I deserved it! But in the middle of our room? The girls inside? Dude…that’s not you.” 

“Yeah,” Sam replied, knowing this was about to be a major heart-to-heart with unknown consequences, “I just…saw red,” he explained, still unable to meet his brother’s eye, “This time…this case. It was different and it was everything I warned against but you don’t listen to me…”

“That’s not true —“ Dean returned quickly.

“Oh yeah?!” Sam scoffed, “How many times do we split up when I say we shouldn’t? And how many times does it end up as bad as I say it’s going to?” 

“Yeah but—“ Dean couldn’t rebut his point so he changed the subject, “You forget she means a lot to me too now. You brought her on with us even though I said it wasn’t a good idea at first, do you remember that?” 

“Yeah, but—“ Sam started, almost an echo of his brother but Dean cut him off.

“But now it’s too late. That girl is with us for better or for worse, Sammy, and sometimes we’re going to run into trouble! That’s what we do. Hell, that’s all we do!” 

“Yeah -- but we can be smart about it! Running off for sex isn’t being smart, Dean!” Sam’s voice raised, all of the emotion from the night before coming back to the surface as the boys began to hash out their issues over the treatment of Lily -- of having the girls along with them. It wasn’t hunts like old times, this was entirely new territory for everyone involved. 

“No, but I can’t take it back now Sammy so you have to let it go! Move on!” Dean called. His resolution to things was to shove it under the rug and move on -- you can’t go back and fix it right? 

“Move on?” Sam laughed in sheer disbelief, “You realize Lily would be dead if they weren’t following some ritual for sacrifice. If this had been another case?! The minute they got into that room and found her alone she would be--” a lump swelled in Sam’s throat and he paused. He let out a sharp breath through his nose and tried to compose himself but it was more difficult than usual.

It took everything in Dean not to point out that if Lily knew this world better, it would make Sam feel less like he had to baby her, mainly because a part of him actually got it. He didn’t like having to talk about it, but when it came right down to it, he understood just why Sam was so upset. Leaving Lily alone in the apartment in the first place back in the beginning probably still tore him up inside.

“I will own up to my mistake, but dude...it isn’t practical to think we would never split up,” Dean pointed out instead. “In the future I just do my best to make a smarter choice. I can’t see the future like you can.”

Sam knew he was trying to lighten the mood, but he still gave his brother a look. “My visions are not that cut and dry and you know it.”

“I’m just saying, what happened put us all on high alert, but you have got to trust us to do better next time. Dwelling on this is just going to keep you wound up and that helps exactly no one.” Dean sighed, ordering the coffee and then looking back at his brother as they waited. “Yeah, maybe we should listen to you more often, but you also have got to try to calm down.”

Sam heard what Dean was saying, but like always, wondered if Dean actually heard what _he_ was saying when it came to this. Just to make sure his brother actually listened so he felt they’d talked it through enough, Sam decided on the wording of his next question very carefully.

“If it was Lana--if we’d had to go to the hospital last night--would you be this cavalier?” Sam asked him.

Dean pursed his lips together. “It’s not the same.”

“How is it not the same?” Sam continued with a shake of his head. “If Lily and I had run off and something bad happened to Lana, you’d be the one taking swings and lecturing me. I just need you to understand that your actions don’t just affect _me_. I wouldn’t be this upset if it was just me.”

“Okay...I hear you,” Dean promised, but he left the question alone.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t worried about Lana--she could still get hurt and killed like the rest of them--but Lily wasn’t used to this. Lily was still finding her footing, and even if she knew self defense, he and Sam still thought of her as the rookie. Sure, Dean could let up a little more because he wasn’t in as deep with her as Sam was, but he didn’t want her to wind up dead either and he knew he had to be better. Lana...could handle herself. Still, if something bad had happened to her, he’d be livid.

“I just need you to promise to be smarter next time,” Sam resigned, not sure they were going to get anywhere else here. If he needed to bring this up in the future then he definitely would. “Her life isn’t worth a sex game.”

Dean nodded at that. “That we can agree on.”

After grabbing the coffee, Dean gave another nod, and headed back to the motel.

 **Back at the Motel**  
Lana had opted _not_ to run, which was becoming a habit and she wasn’t happy about it, but things were too tense.

“They back yet?” Lily asked as she hopped off of the bed.

Lana peeked out the window. “No. Hey...I really am sorry.”

“You have said it a million times and I’m fine,” Lily shook her head. “I get that everyone is sorry, and everyone is upset, but honestly we have got to move past it.”

She was right of course, because being emotionally compromised didn’t help when you were hunting things and expected to also make sure that you were taking care of each other. Having each other’s backs was all well and good, but it also got to a point where emotions clouded judgment. Hell, they’d experienced that firsthand just a little bit ago, and no one was going to forget it any time soon.

“I just want you to know that I’m sorry,” Lana nodded, taking a breath. “Maybe I should just go on a run, I just...I want to make sure they’re okay when they get back.”

Lily understood that better than Lana knew. “Yeah, me too.”

“Maybe if Dean and I talk, we will sort it out better. We know it was us," Lana pointed out after a moment. "I get where Sam is coming from because I'd be mad if Dean got hurt. I mean Hell, I get up in arms about him when it is even just a minor inconvenience...but I wish I understood like he wanted me to. I think part of it is he lost his family when he went to college, found you, and he can't lose you."

Lily understood that, but she also didn't want to be seen as the weakest link all the damn time. She wanted to be seen more as an equal, and while she agreed that Dean and Lana were reckless and that could have been avoided, she also saw that they were alive, and that she and Dean probably just would have been taken at the same time. Not to mention that seeing the brothers fight had definitely done something to shake her up a little bit.

"I just want coffee," Lily told her with a sigh.

The conversation was getting dropped for now, and Lana decided to try and shift the mood by pulling a chessboard and some pieces out of her duffel. She promptly picked the black pieces, and then made space for Lily on her bed so they could be better distracted and entertained when the boys came back.

"I can't wait to get out of here for a bit. Maybe we could all see Bobby. He always ends up with the best hunts. He has way too many contacts," Lana laughed, pondering her next move.

Lily smiled at that. "I do miss Bobby."

"We all miss Bobby," Lana smiled, looking up when the motel door opened and the boys came in. "The good stuff!"

"I even put pumpkin in your Americano for you," Dean told her, grinning from ear to ear when that earned him excited kisses. "You are welcome."

Lily found solace in the double cappuccino Sam handed her and she could tell whatever their drive had been didn’t completely heal their wound but she didn’t have the heart to ask about it while Dean and Lana acted like a sickeningly adorable couple over her pumpkin americano and his black coffee. 

“So Lily and I were thinking we could go see Bobby,” Lana informed them after a hearty sip from her drink, “He’s always got a good case and it’s been a minute. Since we don’t _have_ a case…” 

“I don’t see why not,” Dean said after a moment of consideration, “Besides, We’re not too far from South Dakota. Maybe 12 hours. Could be worse,” he offered. 

“Is your mom still there?” Lily asked Lana as she set aside their chess game. 

“She should be,” Lana responded, “But I’m going to check in with her later. I always forget to check in with her when we’re deep into a case and she hates that.” 

“She can’t blame you though, she knows how it is,” Dean offered. 

“Of course she can blame me! She’s my mother,” Lana laughed, “But she does forgive me.” 

“Can she forgive you for how badly you were losing?” Dean looked over the board set aside. He knew Lana was black, that was customary, “Jesus, Lanni, were you even trying?” 

“Hey,” Lana swatted at him, “You win some, you lose some, you know?” she looked at Lily who laughed. She had never been a chess master but when her powers kicked in it helped her know her opponent better. On a related note, Lily was a killer poker player despite her inability to often hide her own emotions. 

“We’re going to have to whip you into shape,” Dean said into the lip of his coffee cup, “No girl of mine is going to take a beating like that from someone the same size as a ten year old.” 

“Hey!” Lily exclaimed, unable to help her laugh. Dean had shifted back into his old ways — happy to move on from their plight, “Size doesn’t matter in chess.” 

“Thought you girls said size doesn’t matter period,” Dean pressed.

Lana smirked and glanced at Lily then back, “When did we say that?” Dean’s lips fell open but with a laugh she stole a kiss before returning to her coffee. “I didn’t say you had anything to worry about.”

“Okay, ew,” Lily said, shaking her head. It was one thing to have a text thread together about their escapades but there was another to mention Dean’s “size” when they were sitting so close together. 

“Oh, please,” Lana looked at her friend teasingly, “You have no room to talk missy,” she looked between Sam and Lily. 

Sam became flustered - but at least this time it was light-hearted and he shook his head quickly, “Don’t drag me into this. There are things I really don’t want to know about my brother.”

“Likewise,” Dean echoed his call, “Going to put the kibosh on all this right now. Although later you’re welcome to tell me more things you like about me,” he leaned into Lana’s ear, giving it a quick bite before leaning away, leaving her flushed.

“Maybe it is a good idea we go to Bobby’s,” Lana continued after a thought, “Separate rooms under one roof. It’s the safest place we can be.” 

“That’s true,” Sam returned. Maybe a quick break to Bobby’s would be best for all of them. 

“Guess we better pack this place up then,” Dean muttered looking around. They’d really made a mess of this one. Towels strewn everywhere, bags open with clothes hanging out, toiletries strewn from bathroom to bedroom. 

“Yay! Bobby!” Lily clapped her hands together. Bobby was one of the only people she’d ever come across since her powers manifested that never left her feeling too much or became knowingly or unknowingly invasive. His general demeanor and spirit was always balanced and he was a force of good. 

“Yeah, we know you like him more than you like us,” Sam teased her, pulling her into him now that it was safe sine she set her coffee aside.

“Obviously,” Lily replied simply, “Maybe I’d like you boys a little more if you let me have a dog.”

“A dog?!” Lana echoed look back and forth, “Yes!”

“Oh no—“ Dean shook his head violently, “No, no we’re not starting that up again. No way. My baby’s crowded enough with all of you scuffing up her interior!” 

Lana put on her best pouty face, “Please, oh please. I’d be so grateful,” she teased. She knew realistically their life could not handle a dog right now but it was way too fun to tease Dean about wanting to adopt one. 

“Actually, sure. We can get a dog. On one condition,” he said, a surprise change of tune.

“What?!” Both Lana and Lily exclaimed in unison. 

A smirk crept over Dean’s lips and they knew whatever was about to come out of his mouth they weren’t going to like it. “We trade him for Sammy,” he gave a chuckle like he was some sort of genius. 

Even Sam couldn’t help but laugh, “It would take up less room,” he played along.

“No! No way!” Lily exclaimed. She knew it was all a joke but she staunchly had her opinions, “The dog could share a seat with me.” she smirked. The few times being smol worked to her advantage. 

“I’ve laid out my terms,” Dean replied, standing so he could get his duffel in order now that his coffee was gone, “Take ‘em or leave ‘em.”

Sam realized Lana was sizing him up, staring hard. Sam shifted and then finally couldn’t help but ask, “What?” 

Lana pursed her lips, “Just weighing how cute you are versus how cute a puppy would be,” she said as if this were some serious consideration.

Sam laughed again, “Oh, I get it.”

“Hey now,” Lily interjected, putting her hand against Sam’s face, “He’s like a cute puppy - just a really big one,” she pulled him in for a kiss that finally felt as if Sam were returning to normal.

“Yuck,” Dean muttered with a shiver that had Lana finally break her ‘thoughts’ and laugh as well. 

“I’ll just wait until you really mess up and then you’ll have to get us one as an apology,” Lana said simply, “All we have to do is bide our time.”

“Keep dreamin’ sweetheart,” he winked at her. Lana smacked his butt hard as she meandered to her messy duffle on the dresser. 

“Yeah, Bobby’s — separate rooms. I’m beginning to really like this plan,” Sam said with a sigh, unable to let Lily go just yet. Besides, his stuff was in perfect order.

Once they got their duffels all packed up, they checked out of the motel and decided on the driving assignments. Sam wanted to spend time with Lily, and Dean had been letting Lana back in shotgun since they had stopped with all of the pranks. They all needed to get back into the groove of things, and better communicate. That was true for all of them even though Lana was pretty certain that the most solid relationship at the moment was hers and Lily’s.

"It is time for some solid Beatles time," Lana warned them all as she put the cassette tape in. "Then maybe some Britney Spears."

"No!" Dean exclaimed, shaking his head. "You do this every time. Beatles, and then Metallica."

Sam sat up a little straighter. "How come you let her touch the music?"

"The system is rigged against you, Sammy. I put out," Lana told him, laughing when Dean agreed with her. "So in this one instance, I just have the upper hand."

"That doesn't work in my favor either," Lily reminded them. "So it feels very unfair."

"I have to have at least _one_ perk as his girlfriend," Lana protested, resting her hand on Dean’s thigh as he drove. "Though, it is a little skewed. What do they get to do that I don't?"

Dean pondered that a moment. "He can hit me."

"Too soon," Lily told him from the backseat.

It really was too soon to be joking about that, but it really didn't stop Dean at all. He knew that things with him and Sam could get out of control, but when things got physical, that was just a brother thing. Understanding things with their Dad was too, even though he was certain that he and Sam felt that differently too. Still, they had asked for an answer and he had given it to them, whether they wanted to hear it or not.

"Besides I couldn't hit you/hit you. I'm not the abusive girlfriend type," Lana promised, rubbing his thigh gently until he shifted in his chair. "Oh, I'm sorry--did I touch you wrong?"

"Right way, right place, wrong time," Dean answered, smirking when Lily and Sam _both_ protested from the back seat. "I'm just being honest!"

Lily shook her head. "Still too much information."

The whole car laughed at that, settling in for a very long car ride and ending up playing ' _I, Spy_ '. Yes, Lana and Lily had gotten so bored that they had resorted to that since the license plate game didn't work when they barely saw other cars. At least it was something to do until they got to Bobby’s.


	18. Vision or Nightmare?

**Sioux Falls, South Dakota**  
Lana was probably more excited than anyone else to finally be at Bobby’s, but Lily was a very close second. Florence was around here somewhere, and while Lana had questions about that--like exactly what were Bobby and Florence doing together all the time?--she was mostly just happy to see her Mom.

"You're never even that happy to see me!" Dean called after her as she bounded out of the car toward the front door.

Lily laughed at the annoyance in his voice. "You don't leave her alone long enough to miss you."

"That feels beside the point," he protested, grabbing his and Lana’s duffels.

Still, he carried everything in like a gentleman, Lana already talking excitedly with her mother and Bobby. Florence was just about to go and meet John for a hunt, and it dawned on Dean that Florence talked to his father more than he did. Sure, the two adults were friends, but why didn't he get this excited about seeing his Dad? How come they didn't talk as much? If Florence could manage a family and hunting like this, that meant there was a way to do it and John had just never bothered.

"There’s everyone!" Florence greeted them, giving them all hugs. "I wish I could stay longer, but I need to hit the road. John hates to be kept waiting."

Sam nodded at her words. "Trust me, we know."

Of course they did, and after pressing a kiss to Lana’s temple, Florence headed out of the house and Dean put the duffels in a guest room. Then, he came back out as Bobby talked with Lily and Lana about the last hunt, and then suddenly Dean was swooping Lana up bridal style, Bobby making a face. They all knew what was coming next, even Lana, who had admittedly been caught off guard by Dean’s movements.

"Now that Flor is gone and there are plenty of eyes on every person in the room, I'm taking advantage of that guest room for a few hours. Thanks for letting us stay," Dean grinned, and then carried Lana off as Bobby called after them.

"I ain't no honeymoon motel, Boy!" he exclaimed, but he still let them go.

It was even nice for Bobby to see Dean and Lana so happy, and while a little surprised it was happiness with each other, he thought it was a good thing. Still, he shook his head and looked at Lily and Sam, who probably had the same idea in mind, they just weren't gonna announce it to the world.

"I was going to go into town for some more groceries. Dinner in a few hours?" Bobby offered, too proud to admit he loved the idea of a family dinner.

Lily beamed at him. "Dinner would be great."

"Good. Hopefully those two come up for air in time," Bobby remarked, shaking his head a little bit.

Once he had gone, Sam tugged Lily a little closer and placed a kiss on the top of her head. He hadn't missed Dean’s way of announcing that he was taking Lana and leaving everyone safe, and it tugged on his heart strings again, what had happened.

"If it makes you feel any better, Lana said she'd talk to him," Lily managed, looking up at Sam with a smile. "It will all get straightened out."

Sam nodded and kissed her lips tenderly. "I hope so."

**Guest Room, A Little Later**  
Lana and Dean had been having their fair share of fun, now undressed, tangled up in the covers and leaning on their hands as they propped their heads up and laid on their sides facing each other. Since they were on their own and Lana still let him kiss her neck, Dean didn't even mind that she was starting to have a serious conversation with him.

"So, what do we do?" Dean asked slowly. "While I'd love to have at you at any time I want, we can't make the same mistake as last time."

Lana nodded at him. "No we cannot. So what if we got separate rooms every other time and maybe if we are really feeling the urge, just do it in the backseat."

"Or the shower…" Dean offered, wiggling his eyebrows.

"You know that isn't my favorite place, but touche," Lana smiled before it faded slowly. "Can we get super serious for a second?"

"Sure," Dean responded as he leaned in to kiss her neck again. "As serious as you need to be."

Lana laughed and shook her head. "You are a teenage boy, I swear to God."

"Wanting to mark up my woman is not a crime," Dean countered, nipping at her neck in retaliation as her fingers slipped into his hair.

She really did have something important to say, but she wanted to enjoy the moment before he stopped. What she was going to ask was going to make him feel uncomfortable, but if they were going to keep this up, then it needed to be discussed. They were in a committed relationship and she didn't want them to end up backed into a corner.

"This is serious, right?" Lana asked him suddenly.

Dean pulled back and nodded. "As a heart attack."

She gave him a look. "It will always be too soon for that." Lana told him before her hand cupped his face. "I just...we are enjoying our time together, a lot, and I want to know what we would do say, I got pregnant."

"Oh. _That_ conversation," Dean sat up straighter, scratching the back of his neck. "I don't think I've ever actually had this conversation."

"Well, your longest relationship?" Lana asked him slowly.

Dean nodded slowly. "I mean...you…if I'm being honest with you."

"Then it is a conversation to have. I mean we are good at being safe. I'm not actually worried about it, but Sam and Lily aren't wrong--we have been at it a lot." Lana shrugged, sitting up too and wrapping the sheet around her a little bit. "I like where we are right now. I like this. Hell, I don't even hate the occasional fight."

"Agreed," Dean nodded, but he really didn't feel like he had a lot of words. He was definitely caught off guard. "It's your body. I don't think it is my place to make that choice for you, but I'm also your partner so...whatever you chose to do, I would support you."

Lana appreciated that, leaning over to kiss his shoulder, which made him smile a little. Neither of them had really thought about this much. It was her conversation with Sam that had her even thinking about it right now. She just hoped that she hadn't put Dean off, but he didn't look like he was. He looked like he was actually thinking about things now.

"So you're okay that there is a 90% chance that if you knocked me up, we'd end up with like the hottest kid ever?" she teased, laughing when he laughed too.

Dean kissed her forehead. "I mean, we are the hot ones."

"We also can shelve this whole thing until we have to deal with it, I just...wanted to know where we were," she admitted to him.

"You have me until you don't want me anymore," Dean told her honestly. "That is the honest truth."

Lana smiled and kissed his nose. "So forever then? That's a very long time."

She started to kiss his jaw and then his neck, Dean humming and then chuckling. This was serious and it was soft, and he really didn't hate he--he actually kind of loved it. He didn't have a lot of constants in his life, but Lana felt like one of the most constant things he would have. They were in a good place and she understood him, she understood the life, and she wasn't turned off by the things he hated about himself. Was this really how it felt?

"I thought you were complaining about hickeys," he teased her, laughing when she nipped at his neck this time.

Lana shrugged her shoulders. "It isn't a crime to mark up my man."

“No,” Dean was unable to find the proper argument as her lips worked against his flesh. How could he focus on some smarmy remark when he had the hottest woman on the planet right where he wanted her? 

“So hold still,” she managed to roll on top of him with her knees planted on either side, “I’m doing some of my best work.”

Dean’s hands came to rest on her ass, squeezing at will, “Yes you are.” 

**The Dinner Table**  
Dean and Lana were the last to fill in their seats around Bobby’s table, leading to a soft chastising from Bobby about manners and a reminder that he did not want to know what they had been doing (despite there being clear evidence on each of their skin).

Lana and Lily shared a smirk across the table but said nothing more on the matter out of respect for Bobby who had cooked them an amazing meal. He wasn’t always the best with emotions but he was a man of action and he loved his strange family. Especially since Florence stepped out, he was happy to have someone to take care of while she was on a hunt with John.

“You been on a hunt lately, Bobby?” Sam asked. He was over the moon to have a plate of fresh greens in front of him. 

“Been keepin’ in mostly,'' Bobby admitted, “Don’t think I’m much of a field man anymore. Find I’m more helpful doing the research for your Daddy or you knuckleheads,” he explained, “Not you ladies, of course,” Bobby added with a wink once he called Sam and Dean ‘knuckleheads’.

“No offense taken,” Lily smiled. Lily lacked parental figures in her life but Bobby somehow embodied both without any constrictions of gender or expectations. 

“Speak for yourself,” Dean grumbled playfully, already deep into the steak he was cutting up like a downright animal. 

“We might need one, a case,” Lana offered, “It’s been surprisingly quiet since the apple pie cult and might be nice to get back to work once we get outta your hair.” 

Bobby considered, “Alright, sure I’ve got something cooking. I’ll see what bubbles up,” he offered. 

“Just as long as it’s not anywhere near an apple orchard.” Dean interjected, “I don’t know, a desert? Thick forest? Big city? We have been hard up for any good bars lately….” Dean pondered.

“Oh c’mon,” Sam started up, “Any dive bar with a juke box full of 80’s rock is a ‘good bar’ to you… doesn’t exactly narrow it down,” he teased. 

“I like to keep my options open,” Dean retorted, spinning it into a positive. 

“Okay, okay,” Bobby interrupted, “Maybe it is a good thing you boys stopped in here for a rest — you must be driving these girls crazy with your bickering…” 

“ _You have no idea_.” Lana and Lily replied in unison before laughing at their obvious connection. Even Bobby cracked a smile. Sam laughed but Dean looked scandalized, “And to think I let you pick the music.”

Lana leaned over with a smile, “Yep,” she planted a quick kiss before returning to her plate of delicious food just crying out for seconds. 

“Might be a good time to reload too. The trunk’s a mess,” Sam thought aloud, “Pretty sure we’re low on rock salt.” 

“Well you’ve come to the right place,” Bobby replied, “Won’t let you leave here unprepared, ain’t the Singer way.” 

**Later that Night**  
Sam and Lily closed themselves into their temporary room and it was paradise. No Dean to drive up Sam’s nerves, no musty carpet smell or loud motel neighbors. Just herself and the man she loved most. 

“How long do you think we’ll stay here?” Lily asked, able to start undressing without care that there were other people in the room. 

“No more than a couple days…” Sam said with a hint of disappointment, “Dean will get antsy fast,” he offered, pulling her to him once she managed to strip down to her bra and panties, “So we should uh… make the most of it,” he offered, his voice still casual and nonchalant. 

“I think that’s very wise,” she replied, playing along with his little ruse. She wrapped her arm around his middle and looked up (way up). It had been a minute since she and Sam could share a moment like this. She began to unbutton his pants with fervor as Sam worked himself out of his shirt. Then it all became a blur — Sam’s lips to hers, the heat of his body onto top of her, under her, beside her… 

Time became a construct and by the time they ceased procreating and curled up against each other, Lily had no idea how long it had been or what time it was, not that it mattered. Sam fell asleep almost instantly but Lily could say confidently that he deserved it: he did some of his best work tonight. 

Lily grabbed her phone, unable to find sleep just yet. So she texted Lana:

**Lily:** Uhm. Wow.  
 **Lana:** Yeah?!  
 **Lily:** Yeah. He and Dean should fight more often.   
**Lana:** Dean’s been really attentive and I’m not mad.  
 **Lily:** This was such a good idea thank-you.

As Lily texted Lana about their escapades with the Winchester brothers, Sam had fallen into a dream:

He was in a house, much like his old Lawrence homestead. He heard a baby crying and found his way to a nursery. There was a baby boy in the crib and when he looked at the child he knew that this was his baby. He picked it up with such a swell of love it went beyond any old ‘dream’. 

“Shh, shh,” he cooed, rocking the sweet baby boy who stopped crying and looked up into his father’s caring features. “There we go,” Sam said proudly. The baby began to gurgle and giggle — but as he did his eyes turned black. Sam was shocked, “What —“ he continued to hold the baby, desperate that it was a trick of the light but as the baby laughed and reached up with his tiny fingers for his Father his eyes remained black as coal. Black as a demon. 

“Lily?! Lily!?” he called instinctively. What did he do? How could he protect this baby? 

“Yeah?” he heard her voice come in, calm and cool, “What’s wrong, Sam?”

“The baby!” he spun around, offering out his arms so Lily could see, “His eyes!—“ 

However, when Sam looked up, he realized that Lily stood before him bloody and pale. 

“What’s wrong?” Lily echoed again. Bloody seeped from a large wound in her belly, her lower half covered in dark red that seeped onto the floor, “Sam?” she said, not seeming to notice the terrible wound that encompassed her abdomen.

“No…” Sam shook his head. The baby was no longer in his arms. He looked around desperately, knowing he had to protect his family but it was like sand slipping through his fingers, “Where he’d go?!” 

“Hell, Sam,” Lily replied simply. When he looked back at her he realized a fire had started around her feet and began to grow up her body, “And he wants me to come too…” 

“No! No!” Sam cried out but he couldn’t move towards her, he could only watch as her body was engulfed in flames — like the same fire that took his mother. 

“Sam — Sam!” Lily’s voice called and finally it managed to snap him from his dream. He sat up in a hurry, sweat pouring down his brow. Lily was sitting up too, concern etched into her features, “Sam are you okay?” she asked, rubbing his bare back with her hand gently.

Sam felt as if he’d had a weight on his chest and he found it hard to breathe. He looked over to Lily who was perfectly normal and healthy. He reached down to feel her stomach but it was normal too. She grew more worried the longer he didn’t speak, “Sam, talk to me.”

Sam opened his mouth but he knew he couldn’t tell her about the dream. He finally managed a long deep breath and he leaned back against the pillows, his mind racing, “Just… a dream…”

“Dream or a vision?” Lily asked knowingly, reaching to lovingly brush some of his hair away from his face. 

Sam paused, “Dream.” he replied. It had to be a dream because there was no way on heaven, Earth, or hell that he would let it be a vision. 

**The Next Morning**  
Sam and Lily were the first to the coffee pot, well, besides Bobby. But it was a nice time for Bobby to chat with the level-headed brother and his secret favorite member of the family, Lily. 

“You kids sleep alright?” Bobby asked kindly, a cup of black coffee in front of him. 

Lily glanced at Sam who didn’t skip a beat, “Yeah. It’s nice not to be in a motel room that rents by the hour…” he gave a smile, coming to take a seat with his own coffee and drape his arm around Lily’s shoulders. 

Sam was always careful to protect her… to keep an eye on her or keep near-by as if constantly afraid something would jump out and attack but this was different. He was hovering, he consistently kept her in his arms or within a few feet since they’d woken up and Lily began to worry that there was more to his dream than he was letting on… so Lily pulled out her phone as Bobby asked Sam to tell him more about the town of Burkittsville so he could record it for the future — in case they ever came across a lower-deity-loving-apple-pie-baking-crazy town. 

**Lily:** I might need your help  
 **Lana:** U ok?  
 **Lily:** I think Sam had a vision but he won’t say. Don’t think it was good.   
**Lana:** Oh boy   
**Lily:** Yeah  
 **Lana:** Ok. I gotchu

About ten minutes passed before the three at the table could hear a commotion down the hallway. 

“Don’t see what’s the rush!” Dean grumbled. The couple appeared moments later, Lana bright and cheery — clearly having dragged the less-bright and less-cheery Dean along with her. 

“Good morning!” Lana greeted in a sing-song voice. She came around the table to kiss Bobby’s cheek before bee-lining for the coffee.

It was clear that Lana was enjoying this down time far more than Dean was, but that was to be expected. At the same time, he had hoped to sleep in some more, or enjoy more time locked in a room with his girl, but he wasn’t going to get that lucky this morning. Instead, he was trying to put himself in a better mood while Lana got them both coffee, surprising everyone when she handed Dean his coffee first. Well, everyone but Dean.

They’d been trying to get a lot of serious conversations out of them post sex, and it was nice for them to be on the same page for once. Dean was trying to act like it was necessary because of demons, but it was mostly because this really _was_ his deepest relationship and he didn’t want to blow it. He messed up on a lot of things in his life as far as he was concerned, but this found family meant a lot to him and he wanted to keep it.

“Mom made you get this,” Lana told Bobby after taking a sip. “It’s her favorite roast.”

Dean shook his head and drank his coffee too. “Not this again. I swear, she really is a coffee snob so I don't get why she makes me stop at Starbucks.”

“I’m a fan of private coffee houses too, just not that motel garbage you think is ‘good enough’,” Lana responded before she sat down and moved her chair a little closer to Dean. “I am a coffee snob though.”

“Like mother like daughter,” Bobby snorted, picking up a plate of bacon and handing it to her. “I suggest taking what you want before the human garbage disposal over here picks the plate clean.

“I’m offended,” Dean told him.

“No you’re not,” Lana, Sam and Lily all said at once.

They laughed, Dean joining in because they were right and he really _didn’t_ mind all that much. He liked to eat and they all knew it, so he was just going to have to let it go. Besides, even though he’d been incredibly grumpy coming out at first, he was in a much better mood just sitting here with them and eating breakfast. He didn’t get a lot of moments like this, and when Lana gently ran her hand up and down his thigh, his hand found hers and their fingers interlaced.

This was the kind of thing that was worth it.

He and Lana both knew that they needed to buckle down when it came to hunts, which was the only reason they were taking advantage of time right now. It gave Lily and Sam time to have alone time as well, and while Bobby didn’t want to hear about it, he wanted them to have semi-normal lives at the very least. Hell, he expected to have Sam and Lily peace out on them all at some point here. John was fine, he and Florence were looking for Azazel, and once he was killed...what would they be hunting for still?

Lana and Dean were a different story, because they knew this, but the way Florence had raised Lana would take a toll on her eventually. She had once had plans for the future, and he’d thought Lance would have gotten her out, but that had imploded and now Dean was in her life, and Dean never thought he deserved a good thing. So how that relationship was going to pan out, Bobby could only guess.

“Bobby? I need to say something,” Lana started, wanting to try and give Sam a way to cut in maybe if he wanted to, or at least to get the ball rolling for him to talk to Lily privately.

Bobby made a face and looked at her and then Dean. “Is it something I’d rather not hear?”

“I mean yes, but it has nothing to do with Dean,” Lana explained, taking a breath. “You know that demon that Mom’s been hunting down?”

“I probably know more about him than you do,” Bobby admitted before sipping his coffee.

Lana nodded slowly. “I mean, probably, but...I need you to know that I’m half demon.”

“I know,” Bobby answered gently.

She hadn’t been expecting that at all, but then again, she knew that her mother talked to Bobby a lot more than she talked to Bobby. He had been part of her life for a long while and she had thought it was time to tell just about everyone that they trusted, but she was caught off guard. If he knew and he wasn’t treating her any differently, then just how long had he known about this? Was he ever going to bring it up?

“Okay...well, that was easy,” Lana told him with a nod. “How’d you take it the first time?”

Bobby shrugged his shoulders. “Florence and I have a lot of history. It made sense to me why she would keep the secret, and I know you. I wasn’t going to automatically think that kid with the rock collection was evil.”

“The what?” Dean asked suddenly.

Lana shot Bobby a look. “You’re on thin ice, Mister.”

“Chess, a rock collection and straight A’s in school. Were you a nerd?” Dean asked her suddenly, not letting go of her hand when she tugged ever so slightly. “I mean this is good information.”

“So I wanted to have good grades--I was a social butterfly in High School, and I have a Bachelor’s. So excuse me,” Lana reminded him, but her pout turned into a smile when he kissed her.

“I know you do,” Dean responded, and kissed her again, but Bobby clearing his throat broke them up. “Sorry. I’ll eat my bacon and shut up now.”

“When did you get a Bachelor’s?” Lily asked. Both she and Sam had a bachelor’s too — it was their grad school that had gotten cut short by an unbelievably complicated life. 

“Wasn’t too hard,” Lana answered, “Most kids went to parties on the weekends, I went hunting,” she shrugged, “Only missed a few classes due to ‘monster ate my homework’.” 

“That’s great,” Sam added in, “It’s not easy to step out of this life and do — normal things,” he said from full experience and his long-harbored desire to one day be normal again. The table went quiet for a moment — the loaded weight of his words were hard to follow.

**Later**  
“YAHTZEE!” Dean’s voice boomed across the house. Lana, who was prepping ingredients for a pie rushed into the next room, “What happened?!” 

Lily and Dean looked up from the table and their intense game of literal Yahtzee. 

“Just kicking Munchkin’s butt, that’s all,” Dean said with a laugh, marking down his win, “Gonna sweep!” 

“Don’t get cocky,” Lily warned, picking up the cup and set of dice, “Game’s not over yet.”

“Yeah but I’m going to win. I can feel it in my bones!” Dean rubbed his hands together with a laugh.

Lana rolled her eyes playfully, “Children…” she left them to their game and returned to the kitchen. That’s when Sam stepped in looking for a beer and he looked over her work, “Pie?”

“Thinking about a cobbler, actually,” Lana smiled. She hadn’t forgotten about Lily’s text message and she had a feeling this was the best time to try and pry into the Giant’s mind. Suddenly, a yell from the other room came and Sam gave her a confused look.

“Yahtzee,” she replied simply.

“Oh geez,” he chuckled, popping open his beer. 

“Hey, uh, wanna grab me one of those?” she wiped her floury hands on a towel and accepted a beer, “You sure you’re doing okay?” she primed, “You’ve seemed quiet today. I mean, more than usual.”

Sam shrugged, “Nice to have some downtime.” 

Avoidance. Lana knew her roundabout ways weren’t going to break into this one, “But that’s not it, is it?” she pressed solemnly, “You can tell me, Sam.”

“Tell you what?” Sam continued on his ignorance-line of avoidance.

Lana sighed, “Lily thinks something off with you. She told me you had a dream last night and that she’s felt it all day. You know you can’t hide these things from her forever… she can read us whether we like it or not.”

Sam remained quiet for a moment with his lips pressed together, “Yeah, well,” he considered her words, “This is different.” 

“Why?” Lana asked, glad she asked for a beer so she had something to do with her hands. 

“I can’t tell her about this one,” he said quietly, “I — just can’t.” 

“Then tell me,” Lana urged, “I won’t tell her but if you keep it bottled up you’re going to torture that girl with your secret inner thoughts and you don’t want that either, right?”

Sam sighed, “Guess not,” he considered. This was something he wanted to keep close to the chest. It was too much and he hardly knew what to make of it, “Let’s take a walk.” 

Dean and Lily might be laser focused on their competitive game of Yahtzee but Sam couldn’t take any risks, not with this. 

“Yeah, okay,” Lana agreed. She removed the apron from around her waist, kept her beer and followed Sam outside around back to the junkyard. When they had made a good distance into the maze of old metal Sam turned around to face her, “You’re right. I had a dream — but I think it was a vision too.” 

“Okay,” Lana nodded along, “I’m assuming it involved Lily?” 

Sam took a beat, “Yeah. Yeah it did.” 

“You can’t know for sure it was a vision. You worry about her so much — it’s not a surprise it could seep into your dreams too…”

“But this was different, Lana. It felt different.” Sam began to pace a little and he was unable to hold it in anymore, “We were in Lawrence, I think. We had a house — and a baby,” he paused for a sip of his beer.

“These are all good things…” Lana followed, not wanting him to get too deep inside of his own head and stop telling her, “But something happened…”

“The uh—“ Sam took a deep breath, “The baby’s eyes turned black. So I called for Lily and when she appeared she was…covered in blood. She said the baby was in hell and he wanted her there too — then she… burst into flames….” 

The air between them grew thick with worry. Sam’s visions were unpredictable and random but not every dream he had was a vision. 

“Oh,” Lana found herself at a loss for words. Sam had dreamed his worst nightmare. 

“What if hell wants her?” Sam asked, his voice breaking as he asked the question weighing on his mind all day. 

“Well —“ Lana did not know how to ease Sam’s mind but she could only stick to the absolute truth of the matter, “They can’t have her, Sam.”


	19. Trouble in Paradise

**Inside**  
Dean, high from his win, sat in the armchair cradling a beer and counting the money he’d won. It’d been Sam’s money but it felt just as good taking it from Lily. Lily pouted on the couch next to him. Suddenly, Bobby entered. 

“You didn’t let her win, boy?” he asked looking between them.

“Feminism. Equality, Bobby, get with the times….” Dean said with a smirk, “Besides she put up a good fight.” 

Bobby shook his head, “Only a matter of time before you rematch and I get to take great pleasure in her whooping’ your ass…” he said but he proceeded to drop a file onto the table in front of Dean. “Alright. No apple orchards but how about mountains?” 

“Mountains?” Dean echoed.

“Colorado. Suspicious death of an old friend, Daniel Elkins,” Bobby explained.

Once Bobby had said something about a hunt, it had grabbed Dean’s attention. He threw himself into these things, and he wanted to prove to Sam that he could be trusted...and he hoped they wouldn't have to split up. While that was just part of the world they lived in, after the last hunt, Dean didn't wanna make those same choices and piss Sam off again.

"We can take a look. I'm always up for anything," Dean said with a nod. "Plus I've got these guys to watch my back."

Lana poked her head out from baking. "You mean ass!"

"That's only you!" Dean and Lily said together, both with different inflections.

Laughing, Lana went back to baking and Sam came out to sit with Lily on the couch, a smile on his face. She was cute when she was pouting about losing to Dean, and Dean was distracted by going through a file. That meant another hunt, which made Sam tense up, but he also knew that unless everyone could prove to him that they could do this, it would never happen. At the same time, the dream was weighing on him and he wished he could make complete sense of it.

"I guess that's a hunt?" Sam asked with a gentle nod. "Okay. Can I take a look?"

It was clear that he was trying to be civil, Dean handing things over as he read over them. Something was up and Bobby didn't want to go on his own, plus with Florence and John doing their thing, he didn't want to bother them, even though they'd want to know what happened to Daniel too. This way, it could stay in the family at least.

"Daniel Elkins?" Sam asked slowly. "Why does that sound familiar?"

Lana came out of the kitchen at the mention of the name. "Because he is our parents' friend as much as he's Bobby's. He has helped Mom with a ton of stuff. Probably John too. Isn't he in the journal?"

Dean snapped his fingers merrily. "That's where I've seen it before! Thanks, baby."

"No problem," Lana responded with a smile. “If Daniel is missing, then we need to go and check it out. Why didn’t you tell Mom about it?”

“Because she and John already had a hunt to do and I didn’t think I should worry them unless something is actually up,” Bobby explained with a shrug of his shoulders.

Dean looked at him. “So this might not even be a real hunt?”

“Boy, it’s legitimate either way,” Bobby pointed out.

They had to agree with that, because helping out a fellow hunter was just as important as not. Besides, once again, Dean wanted to prove to Sam that he could do something without Lana as a distraction. Lana didn’t mind helping out a fellow hunter, and she and Dean had been talking about all kinds of things lately, so she wanted them to mean something. Lily and Sam just felt like it was a nice thing that they could do for Bobby while Bobby stayed here.

“We could use a dry run of the new hunting expectations: couples edition,” Lana smiled, taking a seat on Dean’s lap. “Dean and I have things to atone for.”

Lily smiled a little. “You guys are going to be fine.”

Lana hoped so, and moved to go and check on her cobbler, Dean getting up to go and pack some things up so that they could head out. At least they were going to be able to get something done, but being able to hang at Bobby’s and spend time together had been fun too.

**On the Road**  
Lana had been pretty silent a lot of the drive, and Lily was kind of worried about her. Mainly it was because this was kind of weighing on Sam and Dean, only because this was a friend of their parents. Would that mean that at some point their parents would be appraised of the situation? If they found Daniel dead then...that was going to be even worse, because they’d have to tell them.

**Lily:** You’re quiet.  
 **Lana:** I texted Mom.  
 **Lily:** Oh. Why is that bad?  
 **Lana:** It’s not, I’m just...I guess annoyed?  
 **Lily:** But why? You like your mother.  
 **Lana:** I told her about Daniel and she said to let her know what is up before she tells John.  
 **Lily:** I mean, that’s fine, right?  
 **Lana:** It means everyone is keeping things from John.  
 **Lily:** Only because they don’t want to work him up.  
 **Lana:** Yeah, but couldn’t they all help each other? Mom’s acting like he doesn’t need to know so he won’t show up. Why can’t he show up?  
 **Lily:** ...I don’t know…

That made Lana nod and set her phone face down in her lap, Dean glancing at her and realizing her face was all scrunched up for a moment. She was thinking, and he reached over to tuck her hair behind her ear, which did make her smile gently and close her eyes as she reveled in the tactile comfort of the touch.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Dean asked, Sam looking up to hear the answer.

Lana shrugged her shoulders. “I’m okay. I just hope Daniel’s okay.”

**Elkins Cabin, Night**  
When they got to the cabin, Lily spoke up in the backseat saying that she was pretty sure something bad had happened. Everything felt dead, and that made the boys hurry up and head for the door, Sam holding the flashlight so that Dean could see as he picked the lock. When he got the door open, it was chaotic inside and Lily felt a chill go down her spine, Lana pointing out the ring of salt as Dean found a journal like John’s that dated back to the 60’s.

“There’s even a hole in the roof,” Lily pointed out as Dean found a place to do a rubbing of a page in the journal.

There was a lot of blood, but Dean found the coordinates just like John used to do for them, and Lana texted her mother that Daniel was gone and there was a lot of salt and blood. Then the four got back into the Impala and headed to what was a post office with a security box, and in that box was a letter addressed to _J.W. and F.M._. That was suspect as it was, and Lana reached for the letter as they sat in the car.

“You think he had something to tell them?” Lily asked, thinking what they were all thinking: John Winchester and Florence Meckenzie.

Lana felt Dean take her other hand and she held it. “I think if he did, it’s important.”

They all jumped when they heard a tap on the window, and upon seeing his father’s face outside, Dean dropped Lana’s hand and Lana noticed right away. Dean’s whole demeanor changed, and she got out of the car with the letter and looked over the top at her mother who was standing behind John. Perhaps this is what Florence was trying to warn her about.

“This isn’t the place to talk about this,” Lana said, pocketing the letter.

John straightened up and looked straight at her. “Let me see it.”

“The motel down the road,” Lana told him simply.

It was clear that she was frustrated, so much so that she was holding the letter hostage and John was less than pleased. That had Dean tensing up, which Lily was sensing just as strongly as Lana feeling _hurt_. Oh Hell no. She had worked this hard to make sure they got together and she was _not_ about to let them fuck this up.

“Lana,” John said sternly.

“No, John,” Florence put in. “She’s right. This isn’t the place to do this.”

Puffing out an annoyed sigh, he nodded and headed back to his truck, Florence getting in with him. When Sam and Dean got them a room, the girls headed in without duffels, knowing this was going to be a talk that needed them to not be getting ready to stay here. Besides, this was mostly so that no one listened to what they were saying, and instead of handing the letter to John, Lana handed the letter to her mother and was very aware of Dean standing up when she sat down next to him on the end of the bed and Lily made a face.

“Of course it starts off with ‘if you’re reading this, then I’m dead’,” Florence sighed, pulling her phone out to call Bobby as she handed John the letter. “It’s real.”

John’s eyebrows rose. “Did you guys see an antique Colt there?”

“No, we didn’t find one. We found a case for one though,” Dean explained as Florence told Bobby the news and then said she’d call him back.

“John and I have been trying to find the Colt for years. It’ll kill your father,” Florence explained as she looked at Lana, shaking her head. “Daniel had it this whole time and now we have to hunt down who killed him and get the gun back.”

Lana nodded, standing up and making sure to be away from Dean because it was pretty clear that keeping John in the dark also included her relationship with his son. It was back to being hidden and if that was the way Dean wanted it, then he could have it, but he’d have it without her involvement.

“And who are you?” John asked, looking at Lily.

Sam spoke up before Lily could. “This is Lily: my girlfriend. She goes where we go. My life is not a secret and I’d appreciate you addressing her with a little respect.”

It bothered Lana that Sam could stand up to his father like this in defense of his relationship, and while it was killing Dean not to be as passionate about it, he was more afraid of his father at the moment. Florence had kept his secret because she knew how John felt about Lana and the potential danger she posed to his boys. Dean didn’t want to piss John off, so he was choosing to not start another fight, even if that fight was going to then end up being between him and Lana about where they _really_ stood.

“If you could just take Mom and I back to the Mustang, she and I can start looking for clues,” Lana announced to try and ease the tension, and she made direct eye contact with John. How she could stand up to him and Dean couldn’t, Dean kind of wanted to know. “I’m sure we can figure it out.”

“Do you have to go?” Lily asked, comfortable enough to broach Lana and wanting her friend to know that Lily absolutely did not want her to go split off with her Mom like it was some separate hunt. Lana gave her friend a nod and Lily wanted to scream — all the work she’d done, all the barriers those two had broken… Lily crossed her arms over her chest, unable to process her own emotions with everyone’s worry, tension, and anger floating around the room. 

John stood, tense. It was clear he often did not hear so much backlash, or had anyone stand up to him or delay his plans. He considered Lana’s suggestion for a moment, “Maybe that’s a good idea,” John said, each word careful and collected. He was a man walking a tightrope and any time slip would mean a fight and although he wanted to tear into his boys right now — Daniel was presumed dead and the colt was missing which ranked in higher priority than a family spat, “Think my boys and I need to catch up — get up to speed until we figure out which way to turn.” 

John gave each of his boys a terse look as he reached into his pocket to fish out the keys to his truck. Lily was fully aware he didn’t even look at her as he considered their plans for at least the next 24 hours. Lily had heard about John from the day she met Sam. He was always a monumental figure that sat just out of reach in her life — she knew he was one of the best hunters alive and he’d only started after their mother died. She knew he had kicked Sam out for wanting to go to school and that he never answered his goddamn phone. 

“I’ll be back,” John told them. ‘Stay here’ laced in his words as he left with Lana and Florence who were stranded with them until they could get back to the Mustang. The minute the door closed behind them, Lily rounded on Dean, “What the hell?!”

“What?!” Dean asked incredulously. He already knew he and his father were in for it and that he and Lana just hit a huge bump in the road so hearing it from Lily too was just too much.

Sam rubbed her back gently, knowing this entire situation was hellish for everyone but he didn’t know what to say to calm her down — so he remained quiet. 

“You’ve barely looked at Lana since your Dad showed up,” she accused, “And Lana — she’s hurt, Dean. Like _really_ hurt.” 

Dean wanted to avoid that little truth as long as he could, “Yeah, well. It’s complicated Munchkin.”

Lily scoffed, “Your whole entire life is complicated! I get it — your Dad is super terrifying but I thought she was more important to you than—“

“She is,” Dean returned hardly, cutting her off. Lily held her ground. It wasn’t often she went in on the boys — really went in on them but when it came to their safety or Lana, she became the world’s smallest Incredible Hulk, “Doesn’t look that way!” she returned.

“You don’t understand!” Dean replied, his voice raising. He took no pleasure in avoiding Lana but if his Father truly knew about them and how close they were — the daughter of the very thing they devoted their lives to hunting — it was a volcano ready to bury the city of Pompeii. “I don’t like it and it feels like crap but I have no choice!” 

“But you do!” Lily’s voice raised in tune of his. Between her emotions and feeding into his she was firing on all cylinders, “That’s just it! You do! You’re not sixteen anymore! Your Dad doesn’t rule your life! He’ll be mad — he’ll be pissed - he’ll yell and scream but at the end of it all you have HER! Don’t you get that?!” 

“Hey…” Sam started as tempers flared, Lily and Dean even squaring up in the middle of the room. It was quite a sight — Sam knew Dean would never hit her or anything but he’d never seen the two physically poised in a confrontation, “Alright, let’s just calm down…” 

“I get more than you and that’s a fact!” he retorted, “He’s going to come back in here and his first order of business is going to lay into us about YOU!”

Lily felt punched in the gut. Her entire existence with them just became a point of contention for Dean since John came around. She felt her throat tighten up but she held her ground, “I’m not going to apologize,” she said. However, neither could say anything further because once Dean turned the conversation off of Lana and onto Lily, Sam stood up and took Lily into him and away from Dean, “That’s enough,” Sam said seriously, looking at his brother. 

Dean ran his hand down his face, unable to settle his inner turmoil. With a great yell he turned and swung his arm, knocking a lamp from the table and sending it clattering across the floor. “I’m going for a walk,” he seethed before leaving immediately and walking out of the room, letting the door slam behind him. 

Lily didn’t realize she had started crying but only when the door slammed did she feel the tears dripping from her chin against her chest. She looked at Sam, who immediately moved to wipe her tears away, “Hey…” he started gently, sitting her down on the bed and squatting in front of her, “Look — my Dad and Dean…” he tried but how did he explain them so easily? It was 30 years of complex co-dependency and idolization that was hard to put into words. 

“I know,” she replied, her lower lip quivering, “I know I just—“ Lily sniffed, trying to compose herself but it was growing to be a monumental task, “Dean doesn’t want me here, does he? Not really…” Saying the words broke the dam and she began to cry. 

Sam’s heart broke and he wanted to take another swing at his brother for making Lily feel this way. She’d lost everything in her life — Azazeal had taken more from her than he had from the boys and yet here she was, feeling like the outsider. He wrapped her into his arms and kissed the top of her head, trying to find some comfort to give her, “That’s not true,” he said with a firmness that left little room for argument, “You know Dean…he’s not good with this stuff… he’s scared and he’s lashing out, that’s all…” Sam ran his hand through her hair, pulling her onto the bed to sit in his lap, “It’s not often someone half his size can go toe to toe with him and live,” he smiled, trying to get her to feel better. 

“But how can he hurt Lana like that? I know how much he loves her, I can feel it… but the minute your Dad showed up — it was like a door slammed shut and I can’t — I couldn’t feel anything at all except how hurt she was,” she said, her voice still croaking from her erratic emotional state. 

“I know how much you love her — but Lana can take care of herself… maybe not today, maybe when this case is over or… she’ll put him in his place. She won’t let herself be hurt forever,” Sam comforted, wishing he could help Lana but he knew more than anything he wasn’t going to bring Dean out of his weird place around their Dad. Sam was too close to it all. 

“Sam…” she breathed, “I have nowhere else to go,” she admitted. Despite the reality of her actual situation — she also knew that her place, her honest-to-god purpose in life was next to Sam. If she couldn’t be there then —….

“You’re not going anywhere,” Sam promised her, his voice dropping into a tone of finality that left no room for argument. “Hey…” he tipped her chin up so she would look at him again, “If you think I got upset when we split up on a case — how do you think I’d feel if you moved away? Huh?” he gave a chuckle, self-deprecating in an attempt to cheer her up. 

It worked, at least a little. Lily smiled, knowing that even in this shitstorm she was lucky to have him. She leaned in and kissed him gently, unable to find the right words to thank him for not even for a moment pretending they weren’t everything that they were together. 

**At the Mustang**  
The ride had been fairly quiet. Florence and John had started talking lowly — quick and sharp but eventually that came to a dead drop into silence and the rest of the ride was quiet. Lana could barely think about anything other than the way Dean acted. The way he just…tossed her away from him. She understood they had to be careful around John but this? This was… this was something else.

Finally, John pulled the truck up next to the famous Meckenzie Mustang and the engine cut. Lana and her mother got out and John followed. Florence went around to John to tie up loose ends, “Lana and I will go back to Elkins place, start there, see if we can get a whiff of what got him,” she said — her voice was quiet, very business-like. Everyone seemed to be walking on eggshells now, “We’ll call you when we find something, then maybe…” Florence wanted to say ‘we’ll meet back up’ but honestly, she couldn’t see the future. Her first priority was her daughter but she also couldn’t walk away from a hunt, especially not when a fellow hunter _and_ the colt were involved. 

“Sounds good,” John replied. He was a different person with Florence than with his boys. He was sour that she’d kept some stuff from him but his anger was better thrown in a different direction. 

Lana and Florence gathered around the Mustang but John hadn’t moved, “Lana,” he said. Lana looked up, surprised to be addressed by him. His eyes were icy but he seemed to remain civil. 

“Yeah?” Lana asked, barely able to toe the line of civil after what John had created…what he had ruined.

“The letter,” he held out his hand. 

Of course. John Winchester needed to be in complete control. Lana tensed, “I think my mom and I should hold onto it — besides we’re the ones going out onto the case while you have a family meeting.” With that, Lana got into the passenger seat of the Mustang and slammed the door shut — end of discussion.

Florence through an apologetic look in John’s direction but couldn’t do anything about the matter. The Mustang came to life and left John in its rearview mirror. 

Lana was silent, deathly silent for the first part of the drive. It was only when Florence’s hand came to rest on her thigh she was broken out of her hellish self-pity, “How can you hunt with that man?” Lana accused, unable to properly deal with her own issues — it was much easier to blame her mother, “He doesn’t even know, does he?” 

“How could I tell him?” Florence replied coolly, “We both want the same thing and that’s good enough,” she gave a vague justification, “He sees things in black and white — he came into this too late and he has yellow-eyed blinders on… I couldn’t risk it… risk you…” she squeezed her daughter’s knee.

“Yeah, well, like father like son, apparently,” Lana grumbled, her mind never straying far from what had transpired between her and Dean the minute John knocked on their window. What did this mean for them? Was it the end of everything they had built since she joined them on the shifter case? Everything she felt — did it even matter. 

“Lan…” Florence said gently, rubbing her daughter’s thigh. She gave a sigh, unable to find the proper words of comfort, “We have to focus on this case — that colt, it’s important. We can finally finish this thing — and when we do then… then we can…” 

“Yeah,” Lana quipped, looking out of the window at the dark passing landscape. If she said anymore she knew she would break. She had a case to solve, and the thought of putting a bullet in her father’s brain was enough to keep her mind off of things.

Lana wanted to say more than that, but she really didn’t know what to say at this point, but she felt very strongly that if Dean wanted this to not be a thing, then she wasn’t going to force it. So all she could actually do in the moment was focus on the hunt.

When she and Florence got back to Elkins’ cabin, they looked around for more clues and then Florence found it: a vampire tooth. That meant vampires, but apparently Florence and John had thought that vampires had been going extinct. Well, apparently not. Either way, it meant telling John what was up, and Lana left that to her mother, smiling when her mother handed her the keys to let her drive. Sticking in some Queen, she tried to calm herself, not wanting Lily to be forced to deal with her feelings.

**Back at the Motel**  
Dean’s walk hadn’t lasted as long as he had wanted it to, but he knew he couldn’t just stay away either. He had a job to do and if John thought that he was shirking his responsibilities then it would be a whole other mess entirely. They had to have their wits about them, even if Dean was a little preoccupied with the fact that Lana wasn’t texting him back. He couldn’t blame her, however: he had completely shut down on her.

Inside the motel room was tense too, because John was in a mood and Sam wasn’t having it. Sam and John were the most likely to go toe to toe, but Sam wasn’t going to have anyone say anything about LIly. She wasn’t going anywhere and she was already feeling enough of everyone’s emotions, so as far as Sam was concerned, they weren’t even going to discuss this.

“Where have you been?” John asked the moment that Dean came back in.

Dean took a breath. “I’m here now. Where are Florence and Lana?”

“Already on the trail,” John told him, giving a nod. “Come on. We have to follow suit. Like I told your brother, vampires are not what the lores paint them as. No crosses, no staking them in the heart--they run on pure bloodlust. They’re also people, at least they once were, so you never really know it’s a vampire until it’s too late.”

“Probably why they never truly went extinct,” Lily said, Sam giving her a nod and squeezing her hand. “So let’s go.”

She figured if she was at least somewhat proactive here, perhaps John would even acknowledge she was there, but he clearly had a one track mind. They headed out of the motel room and out to the car, Dean fiddling with his keys as he tried to shove down the disappointment that Lana wasn’t even keeping in contact. At least not with _him_. Perhaps she was keeping in touch with Lily, but if he asked, he was sure he’d just get a smart aleck remark from her.

“Florence caught wind of a 911 from a couple that saw a body in the road and then disappeared. She thinks it was them and she sent me directions to follow her,” John explained as he started toward the truck. “Hey, Dean...why don’t you touch up your car before you get rust? I wouldn’t have given you the damn thing if I thought you were going to ruin it.”

Sam and Lily both gave Dean a look as Dean grimaced, John getting into his truck and starting it up so they could get out onto the road. Dean really didn’t want to hear it, but he was going to hear it anyways, and got into the driver’s seat first as the other two followed suit into the car. Just the three of them again...something about it didn’t feel right anymore.

“You honestly just let him talk to you like that?” Lily asked Dean sharply. “Dean, you’re a grown man.”

Dean avoided looking at her as he started the car and followed after John. “It was his car before he gave it to me. It was a privilege.”

“But it’s your car now. Dude, you’re not a kid, and neither are Lily and I,” Sam explained, shaking his head.

He didn’t like this, mostly because John was already in here barking orders at them again, and Dean followed them so blindly, and kept standing up for him. Sam got it, he did, but it also bothered him that his big brother still seemed so damn terrified of what their father was going to do if he disobeyed. Would that really be such a terrible thing?

“Has Lana said anything?” Sam asked Lily.

Dean spoke up thinking he was talking to him. “No, she’s not speaking to me.”

“She had good reason for that,” Lily snapped at him before she looked at Sam. “I mean not a lot, but I’ll text her and see what’s up.”

**Lily:** Are you okay?  
 **Lana:** I’ll be fine. Mom and I are trying to narrow down a nest location.  
 **Lily:** What exactly have you found?  
 **Lana:** A couple of vampire teeth, some blood, and we’re looking over the abandoned car now.  
 **Lily:** It’s kind of crazy this is vampires.  
 **Lana:** I wish it was Dracula. He could keep me for a bit any day.  
 **Lily:** You’re a weirdo.  
 **Lana:** Hey, Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a guilty pleasure.  
 **Lily:** Maybe that’s why you like getting hickeys so much.

The silence after Lily sent that made her feel bad because she wondered if she had just crossed a line that she shouldn’t have, but eventually Lana texted back a ‘yeah’, and Lily sighed. She and Lana had gotten really close in all this time and she didn’t want this to be the end. Lily wanted things to go back to normal, but if Dean was going to keep acting like this, then Lana was going to find a reason to leave.

“I swear to God, Dean Winchester, if you don’t fix this, I’m not speaking to you either,” Lily heard herself say, settling back into the back seat of the car and pocketing her phone.

Things felt like they were falling apart and she couldn’t even stop them. What was the good of all of this if everything just fell apart? They were going to have to figure out how to navigate this whole thing, and Lily was silent the rest of the car ride until they got to the location where the couple had gone missing. Florence was waiting outside of the Mustang and Lana was inside of it.

Lily was the first one out of the car, Lana getting out to give her a hug, Florence explaining which way she thought that they were going. Vampire nests were usually around 8-10 people, so with this many hunters it should be pretty easy. What they needed the most was the Colt, but Florence wanted to save anyone that they could save as well   
because that was their job.

“Do we know how many captives?” Sam asked, not liking the odds. Sure, they had a large group of skilled hunters but a nest full of blood thirsty vampires _with_ hostages wasn’t one of his favorite scenarios. The more information they could have, the better. 

“We think at least two, but we haven’t had a chance to cross reference others who have gone missing in the area — or how long this particular nest keeps people alive. Who knows, we could be walking into a bloodbath,” Florence said, unable to tiptoe around the reality that they may be too late to save anyone — all they could do was kill the nest to stop anyone else from falling prey. 

Sam nodded, the gears in his head turning. Only beheading would kill them: not shots from afar, no silver bullets, no stakes shot from a modified crossbow — up close and personal and it made Sam grimace. 

Everyone opened their trunks. It was a three-way weapons fest that would make any gun show pale in comparison. However, the only items passed around and gathered this time were large machetes, hunting knives, and the like. 

“Not even holy water?” Lily asked as Sam handed her a sharpened machete. Sam shook his head with a sigh — he was just as disappointed as she was about it. This was a dangerous fight. 

“Sam,” John started, after sheathing a machete. Sam looked up, surprised to be addressed by his father as they loaded up. Dean looked up as well, growing tense. Things between John and Sam were never good — not as of late and Dean had a feeling he wasn’t about to offer an olive branch. 

“Yeah?” Sam asked warily, same mind as his brother. 

“Maybe we leave the girl at home base. This sort of hunt is what I trained you boys for — years of practice — not summer camp archery.” 

Sam shifted his weight from foot to foot. He couldn’t believe this, “You’re kidding, right?” he scoffed, a sharp breath through his nose, “You haven’t answered your phone for _months_ but you don’t think during that time Dean and I aren’t teaching Lily everything we know? That’s just typical!” 

“Sam…” Dean said lowly, stepping towards the pair that had taken a step in towards one another, “Just leave, okay? Maybe Dad’s right — this isn’t our normal monster of the week, okay?” 

John was at his wits end of his boy telling him how things were going to be — especially when it came to a hunt and a hunt this important, “This is a tactical mission. We’re outnumbered. The only way we beat them is by the element of surprise, head to head. We have no room for rookies!” 

This would be the only time Sam seemed to fight for Lily’s right to be present on a hunt — usually he was the one wishing she would stay behind and stay safe…but since it was John Winchester’s orders he was not having any of it, “We were handling this case just fine until you showed up. Now you want to order us around like we’re kids! But we’re not kids anymore, Dad!” 

“You’re still my kids, damn it,” John replied, “And we don’t have time for petty arguments over women who don’t belong here —!” 

Sam squared right up to his Dad and Dean feared Sam was about to take a swing — however all three men turned their attention when Lana yelled, “HEY!” 

Lana had enough of these men and their issues for a lifetime. She marched over to join the fray, pointedly avoiding eye contact with Dean, “Look, Mister — I know you think this is dangerous and you know what? No one disagrees but you’ve crossed a line! That demon you want dead so bad? He’s just as much a villain to Lily as he is to you — she’s a part of this fight and I swear to God if you say one more thing about her like that you’re going to be sorry.” 

Dean and Sam were stunned. It was already one thing for someone to stand up to John that way but Lana went in. Their base camp was dead quiet when Lana finished her admonishment of John Winchester. Even Florence was too stunned to step in and become a part of their mess. 

John’s words were calm, cool, and low, “She comes to this battle? We lose the war,” he tried using it in terms of the ‘fight’ she referred to, “That gun is too important to risk on weak links,” he said, trying to be very clear. 

“Why? Why Dad? What’s so damn important about this gun?” Sam stepped in, shoulder-to-shoulder with Lana. 

“Because it can kill anything! — Florence and I believe it can kill the demon,” John said. He wasn’t in the mood to give explanations but maybe if his boys knew this they’d get back in line for the greater good. 

Everyone remained quiet for a moment — that was a heavy weight to bear. The possibility that the tool to finally rid them of the demon was just on the other side of the hill — the hands of vampires. 

Surprisingly, Lily broke the silence, “I’ll stay here,” she said. As much as she hated to admit it, John was right. If they could have a chance to kill the demon that plagued them all and all it took was Lily hanging back at the cars, wasn’t that what she should do no matter how it made her feel.

“What?” Sam turned, “No - Lily…” 

“Sam, it’s okay,” she put her hand on his chest, “Your Dad’s right — so is Dean. Look, I’ll get it on the next one once we have the thing that can kill Him.” 

Sam pressed his lips together, flustered but he would not make her come on to a dangerous hunt even though he didn’t like any of the way it got to this point, “Okay. Keep your phone on, lock the doors.” 

Lily nodded, “I know the drill.”

“Are we ready to do this or what?” John asked, looking at the rest of the crew. Moral was down but that didn’t make any of them less-than-brilliant hunters. 

“Remember, surprise works in our favor. We should split off and surround them,” Florence suggested, “Meckenzies to the front, Winchesters to the back…” 

John nodded. Florence was a good hunter and they hunted together all the time — so he trusted her plans and surprisingly put up no argument. He looked to his sons, “Let’s do this.” 

Sam offered Lily a quick kiss before they left her to metaphorically hold down the fort. 

Lana approached Lily before she and her Mom followed, ‘Keep your machete with you too, just in case.” she wanted to drag her friend into her arms and disappear from this place for a while but they had a mission. 

Lily nodded, “Yeah. Just be careful, okay? I know you think Dracula’s cool but I don’t really want a vampire best friend.”

Lana finally broke a smile, “Deal.” 

“Lana…” Florence called and Lana had to leave her friend in favor of their plan. Soon, all five were out of sight and Lily got into the Impala and locked all the adoors. The machete sat on the dashboard in front of her and she turned on the radio, unable to sit in the eerie silence. There was something about every person she loved marching into a battle without her that didn’t sit well but this is not where she could help much… unless vampires could be run over or something…

**The Meckenzies**  
Mother and daughter crept carefully through a wooded area, making sure each step did not give away their location. They were pretty sure the vampires were either inside their nest or patrolling the immediate perimeter but you could never be too sure. 

“Do you think yelling at John like that was --” Florence began in a whisper.

“Mom,” Lana snapped quietly, “Not now. Not the time!”

She knew her daughter was right -- they should be silent. But she couldn’t get over the feelings her daughter seemed to have about the Winchesters and Lily. She had never quite expected this when she had gone out hunting with Dean before… 

“Is that it?” Lana finally muttered. The pair crouched down, seeing a barn-type structure illuminated in a clearing. The few figures they could make out seemed calm and at ease, laughing with each other. Good -- nothing had given them away. 

“That’s it,” Florence confirmed. They were waiting on a text from John to say that they boys were in position on the other side. The goal was to get inside of the bar with as little ruckus as possible. So Florence and Lana scoped out the front figures, formulating an attack plan.

Wanting to get her mother back on track, Lana spoke up. "So...how do you know this Colt works?"

Florence took a deep breath. "Well, everything can be killed, you just have to know how.. Back in 1835 they say that Samuel Colt made a gun. A special gun with a Devil's Trap carved into the handle that he made for a hunter. 13 bullets only. That hunter used maybe half a dozen bullets and then disappeared along with the gun. Somehow, Daniel got his hands on it. I suspected as much, but he and John and I had a bit of a falling out. Legend says the gun can kill anything. Well...at least those specific bullets can."

"But if it's a legend...it can be wrong," Lana pointed out with a shake of her head. "And what if the bullets aren't intact?"

Those were questions that Florence was sure everyone would have because even she wondered about it. After all, they needed things fully intact to go up against Azazel. Otherwise, this was all for nothing and Florence would have to look into what it was that her daughter could really do. Encouraging her powers was never top on her list, but she never made her feel ashamed of them either, which was part of why John hated the idea of Lana even just hunting with the boys, let alone dating his eldest son.

When Lana and Florence got into the nest, everything was quiet and the vamps were sleeping. Sunlight did nothing to them but give them a bad sunburn, however they tried to stay out of it nonetheless. They were very much 'creatures of the night' and Lana and Florence found the two main vampires snuggled up in the back, the Colt hanging behind them in a holster.

While they grabbed that, Sam and Dean and John found an unconscious woman tied to a pole, but no man so they figured he was dead. Sam started to call 911 as Dean got her untied, John warning them that there were more. Grabbing a metal hook, they broke the lock, surprised that the noise didn't wake anyone up, Lana and Florence trying to get past the two leaders with little noise, but clearly these people were not people anymore.

They had been turned.

Everyone needed to get put, so John hurled a rock at a blackened window to let sunshine in, the vampires hissing at it. That gave them all enough of a chance to run, getting outside and heading for the car. Lily saw them coming and unlocked the doors to get out.

"No couple?" Lily asked them.

Sam shook his head. "They got turned."

"That is not ideal," Lily said softly.

"You're telling me," Lana replied, holding up the gun. "Here it is."

John came over and plucked the Colt right out of her hands, Florence noting the look on Lana’s face. She was already holding the letter hostage and he wasn't about to let her also have this. At the same time, Florence preferred that the peace be kept and took it from him.

"The unfortunate side effect of going into a vampire's lair is they now have our scent...for life," Florence began to cut off John's protests.

John's made a face but surprisingly let Florence pocket the gun. "We need to get to the nearest funeral home. Dead man's blood is like poison to their kind."

"Great, then Lana can be our navigator," Dean said suddenly, surprising everyone.

"Yes," she agreed, but her next words annoyed Lily almost more than they annoyed Dean, "from my car."

Lily was fuming. "I'm going with Lana."

"Perfect," John said quickly, making the Meckenzie women and Lily all make a face. "That'll keep the boys sharp."

As much as they wanted to argue with him, Lily was tired of the fighting, and let Lana take her hand and hold it as they headed to the Mustang with Florence. Florence was actually happy for it, knowing she could talk to the two girls _and_ hold onto this gun. She loved the Winchester men like her own family, but these girls were who she was putting her unconditional faith in.

Getting into the car, Lily buckled and then leaned forward and rested her arms on the seat to look between Florence and Lana. There was a lot to talk about and while Florence wanted to go first, Lily beat her to the punch. She was really frustrated with all of this and she just wanted to be heard by people who listened to her--not that the boys didn't, but this was a little bit different.

"Are you going to leave after this? Because I don't want you to," Lily told Lana, shaking her head. "What Dean is doing is crappy, but I don't want to lose you because he can't stand up to his father. Who hates us, by the way. What's up with that?"

Florence sighed. "He doesn't hate you, he just...is seeing red. He wants to protect the boys so much that he is trying to protect them from you two. Sam from complacency when the demon is still around, and Dean from...well the entirety that is Lana."

"Which is why leaving has crossed my mind, because Dean doesn't care about this enough and I'm not going to fight for something he is willing to just throw away," Lana admitted, brushing a tear away that had showed up. "I don't want to lose you either, Lily."

Lily rested her hand on Lana’s shoulder and Lana reached up to grasp it, Florence giving them a smile. She was glad that the two had each other, and she pulled the Mustang out onto the road, the truck and the Impala following behind them. Finding a funeral home wasn't going to be too hard, and it would give the three women time to bond.

"John wasn't always like this," Florence said in the silence. "When Mary was alive, things were different, but when you see the person you love more than anything, murdered in front of you, something snaps. I hope neither of you ever have to know how that feels."

Lana glanced at her mother. "You saw Alan die and you aren't this aggressive or frustrating."

"I also have Robert, so…" Florence added, Lana rolling her eyes.

"You and Bobby actually a thing now, or are you still just crushing and flirting?" Lana asked, Lily smiling at the gossip.

Florence laughed and glanced at the girls. "I don't know what is going to happen, but I want you girls to promise me something, okay?" She asked, nodding when they did. "Love those boys with all you have, even when they're being complete idiots. This life has perks, it does, but without someone to share things with, life is lonely and you get resentful. You and Sam are a sight for sore eyes, Lily. You can see the love and respect you have for each other--don't lose it. Lana...Dean has a complicated relationship with his father, but he loves you. Don't give up on him, but for the love of God, make him fight for you. If he can't do that despite what John thinks, then he isn't ready to have you."

She had just gotten really deep on them, but Lily and Lana appreciated the advice, Lana smiling when a good song came on.

"Hey, Lily?" Lana turned to her. "You can pick the next song."

**In the Impala**  
Sam was pretty livid about Lily practically being chased into the Mustang. He knew she was in good hands, but he was frustrated that John was controlling their lives even this little bit. So upset, actually, that he had already picked a fight with Dean.

"Do you even give a shit, dude?" Sam asked with a shake of his head.

Dean made a face. "I don't want to do this."

"Too bad," Sam shot at him quickly. "I thought we were finally in a happy medium. Yeah, I have my own shit to sort out, but you're shutting out the one person that I've seen make you the happiest. Why? Because Dad is going to disapprove? You're going to be lucky if she doesn't leave. If she does, Lily won't speak to you for God knows how long."

Dean gripped the steering wheel pretty hard as his brother laid into him, knowing that what he was saying was true and was it really worth it? He didn't want to disappoint his father, but he also didn't want to lose Lana...however, he knew that one of those things was going to happen. At this point, he was pretty sure he didn't have a chance to fix it, and Lana certainly was giving him the space she thought he wanted, so had she already chosen not to stay, regardless of what he wanted?

"You really think she'll leave?" Dean found himself asking.

Sam nodded at him. "I think it'll be a miracle if she stays."

"That's what I thought," Dean responded softly.

Finally, Sam felt like something was getting through to Dean. So the Impala went quiet as the three cars paraded back to the motel. They were half successful — they managed to nab the colt but those vampires had their scent. Their nest was a decent size and continuously picking off stragglers around town. They couldn’t just leave that be — they both knew despite the colt victory John wouldn’t allow that to stand — since the vampires in question also knew about the existence of the gun. 

However, neither Sam nor Dean made a move when the Impala parked. Despite Sam’s ability to stand up to John — since his arrival everything had become tense. Complicated. Neither brother was jumping at the chance for shit to start up all over again. 

“Aren’t you going to get out?” Sam asked despite the fact he was still sitting still in his seat.

“Yep,” Dean replied without movement. 

However, both Dean and Sam jumped when a knock sounded at Sam’s window. Looking over, it was Lily who peered in at them both like a disappointed mother, “You have to get out of the car,” she told them both like she was talking to two sulking teenagers. 

Sam sighed and was unable to deny her request. Besides, he had to remain by her side in case his Dad wanted to get smart again. When Sam had exited the car, Dean finally hauled himself out as well. He caught sight of Florence walking across the lot. Lana watched her mother go but caught eyes with Dean. Both of them paused. They hadn’t really looked at each other since John’s arrival. Dean wanted to say so many things — to take back his behavior over the past day but here? In this parking lot? Now? How could he…

“Boys?” John called from the room. Surprisingly, his voice was relatively calm and the most temperate it had been as of yet.

Lily’s hand slipped out of Sam’s and he turned towards her, “You’re coming in. It’s your room too,” he said, not wanting her to feel like John could push her out any further. 

Lily nodded, “I know but — I just have this feeling that he — I think he needs you two right now. Besides, I have Lana,” she said. She pushed up onto her tiptoes, demanding a kiss. Sam obliged and kissed her quickly before he and Dean disappeared into the motel room. 

Lily sauntered over to Lana, “Where’d your Mom go?” she asked, leaning against the Mustang next to her friend. 

“Get a room. Probably best me and my mom stay in a separate room tonight anyway,” a tone of sadness laced through her words but even though it felt like a consequence, Lily had a feeling that it was weirdly a good thing tonight. 

“Can I stay too?” Lily asked, “I think…” Lily paused, trying to sort out the lingering feelings the three Winchesters had exuded which she had been unable to dodge, “I think something’s going to happen tonight…something good. Healing, even…” There were no guarantees. Anything could set off one of their tempers and ruin it but Lily had hope, “Don’t think I’d help.” 

Lana smirked, “Of course you can stay with us,” she said, finding a thread of happiness in this super shitty situation, “Might be nice — one room, women only… god can you imagine how clean the bathroom will be?” 

Lily laughed. Motel rooms were pretty dirty by nature but for some reason the boys were humanly incapable of leaving a bathroom clean. It was astounding every. single. time, “Oooo maybe we can watch some true crime reruns,” Lily fantasized. Dean hated that ‘sensationalized crap’. He would always launch into his tirade of ‘demons I get, people are crazy’ and ruin the fun of the cheesy 90’s cases. 

“God, yes! Oh! And no snoring boys,” Lana added. Her mood was lightening up exponentially as her and Lily fantasized about a ‘girls only’ room. By the middle of the night, she wagered, things would be back to an utter shitstorm but for now — she had Lily and she had her Mom and she could consider herself blessed.

Florence returned with a room key and the girls gathered their things, able to take the room next to the boys. Luckily, no yelling was heard. Not yet, at least. Therefore, Lily was resigned to pressing her ear to the shared wall. She couldn’t quite make out any words (and yes, they seemed to be using their words like adult men) but she could _feel_ the words and so far, so good, “Kinda heavy,” Lily reported, “But good, I think,” she stepped away, wanting to reset and return to her own emotions. 

“So you can feel what other people feel all the time?” Florence asked. Bobby had told her a bit and Lana had mentioned it but it was still a fuzzy picture for the mother of a half demon. Lily had her own special ability and it was nothing like what Lana could do even though it extended from the same demon blood. 

Lily nodded, “Yeah. Easier to tune out if they’re a stranger but…I can even usually sense the emotions attached to things if they have a serious past.” 

Lana’s eyes lit up and she and her mother locked eyes with the same idea at the same time. 

“Like an old colt revolver?” Florence asked. She withdrew the sacred gun from the band of her jeans and held it carefully before her, “By all accounts, this is the gun. Supposedly said to kill anything in its path but —“

“—we can’t risk being wrong,” Lana finished. They couldn’t face her father down and have the gun go off like a dud. Replications were a big black market item in the world of the supernatural and it plagued Lana’s mind with worry. 

“I can’t promise anything but, I can try…” Lily offered, holding out her hand. 

“It won’t hurt you, right?” Florence asked, her mother-side showing — once a mother, always a mother.

Lily smiled, “Not like you’re thinking,” she was able to take the gun from Florence and she sat on the edge of the bed, holding it between both of her hands. She smoothed her fingers over the metal. It hummed, an electric current flowing through the grooves of the barrel and into her body. It was like echoes from the past. Desperation. Skill. Determination. Loss. “I don’t see specifics like Sam does but — this gun definitely has a past…” Lily tried to form words from feelings. 

“A long history?” Lana pried, hoping to hear anything that would confirm their greatest desire: the ability to rid them of her father once and for all. 

Lily nodded, “Yeah — you see… like Dean’s gun is special to him. When I held it that one time it just felt like another part of Dean. Nothing special. No other emotions just — like a scent left on clothes or something but this…” Lily looked at both women, glad they didn’t think she was crazy, “Has its own identity…” Lily passed the gun back to Florence, “I can’t tell you who made it or where it came from but it’s had quite a journey.” 

“That might be enough,” Florence gave her a small smile, “Thank-you, Lily.”

“You’re welcome,” Lily returned, in that moment realizing how little she was ever thanked for anything — ever. 

“Well my girls, we might as well take this time to get some rest. I have a feeling we have a nest to evict really soon,” Florence sighed, taking a seat to rest her tired bones. 

“Great. Time for some true crime. Too bad this motel doesn’t offer room service,” Lana added, kicking off her shoes and plopping down onto the bed next to Lily. 

“Usually that’s Dean,” Lily offered, trying to make a joke but her eyes watched Lana carefully — still unsure about mentioning the “D” word. 

Lana, surprisingly laughed, “Yeah, one thing he was _definitely_ good for.” She couldn’t deal with Dean tonight — the hurt, the crack in her heart from his actions was too much to delve into right now- mid hunt with her mother and his father on board. So she took solace in Lily’s company, cuddling up to her friend on the bed as the three women took a well-deserved break.

It was nice for Florence to get to spend some time just getting to do some family related things, and she smiled as she watched Lily and Lana watch their TV. They needed to be in each other’s lives, and Florence wanted to make sure that that happened. Besides, it was nice to see that even though this one of her daughters was a hunter, she also had a somewhat normal existence as well.

**The Winchesters**  
Sam wasn’t sure he really wanted to be without Lily tonight, but he was going to have to suck it up. It was just...hard to remember a night he was truly without her, if he was being honest. Sure, he had to let her have her time on her own, but now he had to deal with his father and his brother, and he wasn’t sure he wanted any part of the conversation right now.

“Is this...the usual set up?” John asked them as he got ready on a cot. “Who sleeps on a cot?”

Dean knew he had to start somewhere. “No one.”

John was silent for a moment as he let the words settle in. If no one slept on a cot, that meant that on a regular basis there were only two beds. Two beds for four people and that only left one person for Dean to be paired off with, and to say that John’s nostrils flared was an understatement. He was clearly upset to hear that, and he stayed silent long enough to make Dean start to feel like he had fucked up.

“You hunt with her mother,” Sam pointed out in the silence.

Nodding, John made eye contact with him. “She isn’t her daughter.”

“And Lana isn’t her father,” Dean replied slowly.

“Were you ever going to tell me a damn thing?” John asked Dean, anger in his voice even though his tone was even.

Dean took a breath. “No disrespect, Dad, but you never answer your phone.”

This was now the _second_ time that John had been reminded that he was always distant, and it was from the child that hadn’t said it the first time. He even knew that they were right, but he didn’t want to admit it. At the same time, he couldn’t very well tell them they were wrong when they all knew that they weren’t.

“You have no idea what she is capable of,” John protested, looking at Dean. “Not a single idea.”

“Do you?” Dean asked him, nodding when he shook his head. “Then stop acting like she’s the enemy. Dad, she protects us at every turn. If it comes down to us or her, she always shields us. She’s not like the demon that is her father and we know. We know what she is--you let the Colt be in the same room with her.”

John took a breath. “You should have been more careful.”

Dean didn’t want to argue that when it was true, but he didn’t care anymore, so he sat on his bed and he pulled his phone out to text Lana. He wasn’t expecting results, but he figured he knew the best way to at least try to get a response just judging by the situation. Sam just wanted some rest before nightfall and the vampires hunted them down, and John felt like he had said what he needed to say about everything.

**Dean:** He knows.

He waited for what seemed like forever as Sam and John readied themselves to sleep, but soon he had a response and it made him let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in.

**Lana:** Well, we only had two beds.  
 **Dean:** Meet me in the parking lot.  
 **Lana:** Why?  
 **Dean:** For once I want to talk.  
 **Lana:** Okay. Gimme 20 minutes.

Dean smiled when she agreed: that was more than he thought he deserved, and he knew he might get a lecture, but he needed to talk about this.


	20. All of Us...Together

**The Girls  
** Lana set her phone down and then glanced at her mother who was enjoying the show before she turned to face Lily. “Dean wants me to meet him in the parking lot.”

Lily sat up on the bed. “Are you going?”

“Maybe?” Lana said, sitting up too. “I told him to give me 20 minutes, but a part of me wants to back out because I’m not expecting good news. Since when does he ever want to talk? Like without us asking him to?”

“You should go,” Lily and Florence said together.

Florence nodded at Lily. “You want to know what he has to say, and on the logical side, airing out the grievances will help keep us all safe tonight.”

Lana supposed that they were both right, and so she got up to change her clothes and run a comb through her hair, and then she grabbed her jacket and headed out to wait by the Mustang. Honestly, she wished she hadn’t gotten there first, but she looked up from looking at her shoes when she heard the other motel room door close. Lily was watching from the window in the room with Florence, and Lana held the keys up.

“Backseat? For talking, not…” she told him.

Dean nodded, surprisingly serious. “I don’t think I’ve earned sex in the backseat of your car in broad daylight.”

“You’ve barely earned this chat,” Lana replied, but she got into the backseat of the Mustang with him and sat on one side while he made himself comfortable on the other side. “So…”

“I shouldn’t have shut right off,” Dean started. “Dad showed up and I panicked because I just haven’t…”

He was looking for the words and Lana nodded. “Dean, I get it. I don’t like it, but I honestly get it. I get  _ you _ . You’ve idolized your father for as long as I have known you. He knows I’m half demon and to lose his best soldier to me? Come on, I know you don’t want  _ that _ lecture.”

“That’s not how this should be though. Who was there for me when my heart gave out and we had to hunt a reaper? You. You, Sam, and Lily who saved the day. Dad never even called back. Sam had to leave  _ another _ message to tell him that I was healed. What about when we saw Mom’s spirit? I called him and he didn’t even show.” Dean shook his head. “I know you’ve got my back it’s just…”

“He’s your  _ Dad _ ,” Lana nodded, looking at her hands in her lap. “I get it. I don’t like being lectured by my mother, I just thought we were getting somewhere. Mine until I decided I didn’t want you anymore? Isn’t that what you said?”

Dean nodded and scooted a little closer to her on the seat. “I know I have issues with my Dad, but I don’t want to have issues with you.”

“Then you’ve got to put forth a better effort,” Lana explained, but that didn’t stop her from stealing a kiss that Dean wished he had had more time to enjoy and return. “Now, get out of my car.”

The order was soft, but he knew that she meant it, and he knew that he was going to have to make an effort to at least talk to and look at her. John might be pissed off, but having his Dad be mad at him was just the price he was going to have to pay. He was going to be mad anyway, so at least he could try to get along with her and work back into her good graces, and Dean gave her a thoughtful smile before he headed back to join Sam and John, hoping they hadn’t started to kill each other.

Lily was nearly bursting by the time Lana walked back through the motel door. In this situation there was no room for subtle, “What happened?” she asked. Although Florence had resigned herself to her bed again, she was equally as attentive. 

“Well he apologized,” Lana shrugged. She was still processing his words and her own feelings. She threw the keys aside and placed her hands on her hips, “I told him I understood but—“ 

“But he’s being a really big dumb butt,” Lily interrupted, wanting to make sure Lana didn’t lose her validation while she processed Dean’s explanation. 

“Yeah. Well. I told him he had to put the effort in so we’ll see,” Lana slipped back onto the bed. She was pretty sure she wouldn’t be getting any rest before their supplemental vampire hunt but that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy sitting with Lily and avoiding the boys next-door. 

“So,” Lily started after a brief moment of peace, “What’s with the dead man’s blood?” she asked, “You said it’s like poison? How are we going to poison a whole coven of vampires?” 

“Don’t need to,” Florence replied, “That’s the hope at least. You see when a vampire mates, they mate for life. If we can separate the king and queen, hold one hostage in exchange or ‘terms’ then we might have a shot at getting out of this town unscathed.”

“If we hurt or kill their leaders, won’t that just piss the vampires of?” Lily asked, trying to understand what was on the minds of seasoned hunters. 

“You would think,” Florence replied. It was nice getting to explain her expertise to someone. It had been quite a long time, “But getting rid of them is like cutting the head off of a snake. Once they’re gone the vampires — they’ll scatter. No direction, no training. Easy to pick off, especially with all of us here.” 

“So how do we lure them out?” Lily asked, “If they mate for life I don’t think they just go bounding off to the bar alone, right?” she smirked.

Lana put her arm around Lily, “Unless one of their Dads came to visit,” she teased making both Lily and her Mom laugh. 

“Lana…” Florence said with affection but a ‘oh stop’ tone. 

“You never know!” Lana replied, “But Lily’s right. How are we going to separate them, especially now they think there’s an imminent threat  _ and _ they have our scents — they’ll smell us coming a mile away. No way we can surprise them again.” 

“They don’t have all of our scents,” Lily piped up. Lana looked down at her quickly in full understanding of her meaning, “Yeah, but…” Lana started. She was not one to tell Lily ‘no’ when it came to helping on a case but a whole hoard of vampires versus Lily did not sit well with her, “They’ve got us in numbers. We have to be smart.” 

“Lana’s right,” Florence piped up. Lily was meshing into her life like a third daughter — the way your children’s best friends always seem to become surrogate children, “This is complicated. Gonna have to involve all of us. Our only strength against them is in our numbers.” 

“Besides,” Lana started, not wanting Lily to feel like her plan was shot down. She always wanted Lily to feel powerful and included, “How do you think Sam would react if we told him we were tossing you at a vampire coven as bait?”

Lily couldn’t help but laugh, “Yeah, I guess,” she sighed. Often, it was appropriate to push Sam’s comfort zone into letting her help or be a part of the case but this? She didn’t see Sam budging on and maybe he was right, “Ugh. There’s just got to be a better way than hoping we can separate them…” 

**The Boys  
** The boys had done a better job of settling down for rest, knowing they had to be sharp for a showdown with a bunch of bloodthirsty vampires. Dean’s mind, however, was elsewhere and ill-prepared. He kept thinking about how Lana kissed him and what it meant. She wasn’t totally done with him which was a great relief but he was far from out of the woods.

John had managed to lay atop his cot and fall asleep like a soldier doing a power nap. John had himself trained so well, in twenty minutes he’d be up and refreshed and barking orders again. However, Dean wouldn’t be so lucky. He glanced over to find Sam having troubles as well. Sam was attached to his phone and Dean wished he could be texting Lana in her absence about how nice her butt looked in those jeans and what he’d like to do to her when they could be alone again — or how truly sorry he was and how she meant more to him than anything even though he’d acted like an ass. 

Suddenly, a commotion sounded next door. Both Dean and Sam gave each other a look but had little time to decipher when their door burst open. First Lily streamed in quickly followed by Lana who was trying to stop her.

“I have a plan!” Lily exclaimed.

“What in the hell—“ John started, awakened from his slumber, disoriented and surprised.

“No she does not!” Lana echoed, as the Winchester boys roused to the crazy. 

“Yes I do — Lana doesn’t like it and neither will you,” she pointed at Sam, “But I think it may be our only shot at wedging a knife between their leaders and cutting the head off the snake,” she explained quickly, proud of herself and this plan. 

“What is it?” Dean asked trepidatiously, glancing at Sam. No way this went over well but at this point any idea needed to be aired.

“They don’t have my scent, right? They don’t know I’m with you guys,” Lily started, “So. One of you takes me over as an offering to the coven, right? —“ Lily explained but of course by the time she said the word ‘offering’ Sam was already standing and shaking his head. “Yeah, no - no way,” Sam started but Lily held up her hand to stop him and surprisingly John spoke, “Let her finish, son.” 

Sam was too shocked to fight it so he quieted down. He sat on the edge of his bed, poised to shut it down when she was done. 

“The ‘we’re sorry but we just needed that gun back here’s a gift’ kind of thing. But, of course, they know you’re hunters and hunters aren’t just going to let vampires get close to them for nothing so you make terms — you ask the queen to accept the gift if they accept your terms: human sacrifice for a truce. Then, when the queen comes to collect BAM. Ambush. We have her, dead man’s blood and all that — no-headed snake.” 

Sam just shook his head repeatedly. Lana sighed, putting her hand to her forehead. She was blinded by the potential in the plan since it involved Lily with only one other hunter against a group of vampires. 

John stood, licking his lips in consideration, “Might be the best plan we’ve got,” he said — glancing down at the small girl who surprised him. 

“No!” Sam stood again, “No way, too many risks…”

“Look, son, I’ll take her,” John said. Regardless of how John felt about Sam and Lily together — or his boys with partners at all, he was the best hunter out of all of them, “Ain’t gonna let nothing happen to her. By the time the vampires even get a whiff of a set up — you all come out with your machetes and it ends in their blood soaking the dirt.” 

Sam looked to Dean and Lana for back up, “This is crazy.” 

“But it might be our only chance, Sam,” Lily defended her plan. Florence then entered the fray as well, “Don’t forget we have the colt now,” she said, “Ain’t looking to waste bullets but could take a shot if we needed, if things got too hairy. Don’t even gotta be up close and personal.”

“Might be the best plan we’ve got,” Dean piped up. He looked at Lana who was none-too pleased that he was on board with this but Dean started, “She’s a part of this — and she may just save us all.” 

Lana softened. She had flown into protective mode but forgot her own belief: Lily was a part of the team and sometimes this is what you did for the team. A moment later — Sam was the only one not on board. 

John placed his hand on Sam’s shoulder, “Look, son. You’ll be right behind us. Everyone’s got our backs. Trust us. That’s some girl you’ve got here…” 

It was the closest thing to a compliment John had given Sam in years. Sam swallowed hard. He realized the losing battle he was fighting — he would cooperate but that didn’t mean he’d like it, “Yeah, alright.  Right behind you.” Sam hated this plan more than anything, but since he was the only one protesting, he was the one who wasn't going to get his way on the subject. So, John told Lily that she would take the Mustang and pretend to have car trouble, and he'd come out with the dead man's blood dipped arrow. Seemed like a good enough plan, especially since these vampires seemed to like taking people from cars.

At least they wouldn't automatically think that this was a trap because they couldn't smell Lily the same way they could smell the hunters. So after taking the keys to the Mustang and having to promise to be gentle--Lana and Dean really did have that in common--she posed herself with the hood up, and waited until the vampire leader herself show up without her mate.

"Car trouble?" The female vampire asked her. "Let me give you a lift. I can take you to my place."

Lily gave her a friendly smile but shook her head. "No, thank you. My father always told me never to accept rides from strangers--I don't even know your name. It probably just needs a jump start."

"Oh, honey. Maybe we can get acquainted and then I won't be a stranger," she offered with a smirk.

"I dunno if I should, I mean...necrophilia illegally isn't my thing," Lily explained with a nonchalant shrug. "Name's Kate."

As she moved to attack Lily in anger, there was a 'whoosh' that sounded, and Sam shot his crossbow, the arrow piercing Kate's neck. John shot the other vampire that had just showed up, and Kate realized she had been ambushed. That made her look at the two hunters as they came out, Sam moving close to Lily in a protective fashion.

"Barely even stings," Kate told them, grabbing Lily and pulling her in close.

That made Sam pause his movements, but the look in his eyes said he was angry because once again, he was probably right. Using Lily as bait was not okay with him, and had they not been there, and had the dead man's blood not made Kate waver a little now, something bad would have happened.

"Bet it does now, sweetheart: that arrow's soaked in dead man's blood. It's like poison to you isn't it?" John gloated, smiling when both vampires went down.

Sam moved to Lily as John caught Kate and Lana came over to behead the other vampire she had brought with her. She was ready for this to be over even though it had practically just begun, and Dean came to help his Dad get the body into the car. This would bring the vampire king running, and Florence took a breath.

"We need to hurry. There's a good place for a fire that way, but her mate will be coming for her," Florence explained quickly..

Lana nodded at her. "Because they're all loyal and respectable with this whole 'mating for life' thing."

She wasn't saying it for Dean’s or anyone else's benefit, but it was hard not to catch the looks between them after she had said it.

Ignoring the moment, everyone got into the cars and headed out, Florence and John starting a fire. A fire that  _ wreaked _ , and all four young hunters were complaining about it. It was not what they had hoped to be smelling...not by a long shot.

"Saffron, skunk's cabbage and trillium. It'll block our scent and hers, until we're ready," John explained to them as Dean coughed. "Dust your clothes with the ashes, and you stand a chance of not being detected. The blood sickness will eventually wear off, but she means more to the leader than the gun."

Florence nodded in agreement. "Maybe half an hour to be fully prepared?"

"And then you four should go," John told them with a nod. "Florence and I can take care of some vampires."

"That's it? Just you guys run off to kill this demon?" Dean asked, everyone surprised that it was  _ him _ getting angry. "This is our fight too."

Sam nodded in agreement. "You can't keep treating us like children."

"You are my children," John snapped, shaking his head at them. "My primary priority is  _ always _ to keep you safe."

"All due respect, Dad, but that's a bunch of crap," Dean returned, Lana and Lily a little shocked.

It was not at all like Dean to argue with his father like this, but something in him snapped. This demon had personally wronged each and every one of the people here at this campfire, and Dean didn't want his Dad and Florence to just up and disappear again.

"Excuse me?" John asked his eldest.

Dean took a breath. "Lily was wronged. Sam and I were wronged.  _ Lana _ was wronged. You think you and Florence get to just decide this because you're the eldest and he hurt you more? No. We are stronger together."

"I don't expect to make it out in one piece," John admitted, everyone taking that in. "I can't lose you kids too. Your mother's death...it almost killed me. I can't watch my children die too. I won't. I won't do it."

"And we won't watch  _ you _ die," Lana spoke up, shaking her head. "My father needs to pay for all of us and Dean’s right: we are stronger together. So vampires first and then we figure out the rest later."

Dean smiled at the united front. "She's usually the boss you should just let it go."

John did not react as per usual — he paused, considering his words now. “We’ll talk once we take care of this vampire infestation,” he said. He couldn’t just roll over when it came to his son’s safety but he knew this would have to be talked about, lest they follow into some situation that could get them all killed, “Not the place.”

Dean shrugged. He glanced at Lana before back to his Father, “Sure. But we aren’t changing our minds, Dad. This is all of us. Together.” 

John merely nodded as the group worked to hide their scent. 

Lily gagged. Sam couldn’t help but laugh, “Glamorous, right?” 

Lily glared at him, her eyes watering at the disgustingness she had to figuratively roll in because some vampires decided they wanted her as a nice little snack, “I hate this. I wanna go back to the apple pie cult. At least they had pie.” 

“Not funny,” Sam returned quickly — the ill-fated apple pie cult that got all of them into a giant fight over her safety. 

Lily pinched her fingers together, “A little…” she replied with a smile. 

“I could go for some pie,” Dean said wistfully. They were about to pull a really shitty all nighter — truthfully anything would be better than their latest task, “But look, Lily it’s not your fault you’re bite sized.” he laughed at his own joke. 

“Dean,” Sam snapped. Referring to his girlfriend as a vampire’s snack was not cool.

Dean just laughed, “Oh come on, Sammy… I’m hilarious.”

“Debatable,” Lana cut in, sharpening the tip of her machete while looking in Dean’s direction. 

Dean wanted so badly to inform her how hot she was sharpening an extra large knife but he swallowed it and shifted his weight to distract himself, “Don’t think so,” he said in a pouting tone. 

Florence had been right — it was about thirty minutes for the group to cover themselves and prepare weapons for the oncoming bloodbath. They tied the Queen’s hands together and laced her with another dose of dead man’s blood for good measure. The three cars parked together for possible protection, the headlamps illuminating the clearing they occupied. 

“Do you hear that,” John held his hand up which caused the group to fall deadly silent. No more joking or jabbing amongst them. 

The sound of several engines roared in the distance at great speed. John looked to his family, “They’re coming.” he said surely. Lily wanted to know how he knew the cars would belong to vampires but she, in no way, planned to ask that question out loud. However, when the cars all shut off what sounded like a close distance away, her stomach sank: John had to be right. 

“Spread out, half moon,” John gave the order and the group paired off. Since John instinctively moved with Florence, that left Lana and Dean together to flank the right. John and Florence held Kate the Queen close, their ticket to making this out alive. “God I hope this works,” Lana mumbled. She wanted to reach out for Dean’s hand but this wasn’t that sort of moment and with her feelings still marred by this earlier actions — her hand remained firmly at her side. 

“It’ll work,” Dean mumbled quietly as he and Lana laid low. A group of vampires entered the clearing. John, Florence, and Kate were the only ones visible. Their King took the front. He looked like some standard biker douche but his concern for his mate was clear: even a bloodthirsty creature showed his love for his mate better than Dean had before… typical. 

“We want her back,” Luther spoke clearly, a standoff between him and John who held Kate with a knife of Dead Man’s Blood at her throat. 

“Yeah,” John answered. That was obvious, “And we want to make it out of town alive.” he replied simply. Florence held her machete in one hand behind John but her fingers flexed, ready to use the colt if she had to — if she had to protect her family. 

“You antagonize our nest — take our Queen and you want to leave our town alive so you can get more hunters to come back and kill us?” Luther started, wanting to explain the score.

“You killed one of us first. Daniel Elkins,” John replied with a tight grip on Kate, “We were just settling the score, getting back what you stole from us. She’s our insurance policy.” He pressed the knife into Kate’s throat so it made the smallest cut — causing her to react to the pain. 

“Okay - stop!” Luther ordered, taking half a step forward before catching himself, “We can strike a deal…let you pass these town borders…” he started. 

“Now that doesn’t sound too convincing…” John returned, pressing the knife again — Kate groaning in pain, unable to stand up on her own, weak and writhing against John.

Lily and Sam were on the opposite side of the field from Dean and Lana, waiting for the signal, “He’s so calm,” she whispered in surprise to Sam. She could feel Sam’s tension and worry and her own heart beat light a hummingbird’s but John — it was incredible. Even Dean and Sam got worried when they faced down monsters no matter how run-of-the-mill or confident they were but John? Nothing. 

“Yeah,” Sam nodded, gripping his machete white-knuckled, “Always been like that…” he added, looking over the field, trying to get a headcount of the vampires that turned up to save their Queen. 

Luther had taken another step or two towards John - closing a lot of the distance. His people were spreading out to surround John and Florence. 

“Uh-oh,” Dean muttered as he watched, “Don’t think he’s up for making deals…” He knew that John would order them to stay put until he gave the signal but Dean began to think they were going to have to act against orders if they wanted to save their parents. 

“Doesn’t look like it,” Lana agreed, “He thinks he can muscle her away from your Dad… if they move in any closer…” she was also flexing her hand on her machete, “They’ll try to take my Mom as collateral.” 

“We won’t let that happen,” Dean said seriously, grabbing her attention away from the unfolding mess in front of them, “I won’t let anything happen to your Mom. I promise.”

Lana knew that was always true, but something in his tone told her he was trying everything in his power to prove to her that he was there for her now — how much she meant to him. She had little time to process this so she could only nod, “Yeah.”

They remained quiet and still for a few moments longer as the tense stand-off continued. But suddenly, Lana exclaimed, “Dean!” 

A vampire had managed to sneak around the cars and was heading for Florence from behind. 

Screw the plan.

“FLORENCE SIX O’CLOCK!” Dean yelled. He jumped from their hiding spot and bolted into the fray. Lana was hot on his heels. Florence, well practiced, turned immediately 180 just in time to dodge a swipe from a fanged creature. That second gave Dean enough time to close the distance and raise his machete, clearing the vampire’s head from its shoulders. It landed in the grass with a soft thud.

Once Dean and Lana had given up their positions, the entire scene went to hell. Sam and Lily were forced out of their spots to help cover their family and kill the vampires looking to avenge their king and queen. 

Luther used the craziness to come forward and make an attempt to retrieve Kate from John who was recalculating in his head, still holding her tightly. However, he hadn’t been paying attention to the levels of dead man’s blood and suddenly Kate kicked her leg backwards and it sent John backwards. Kate rushed forward away from the hunter. 

“Sonuvabitch!” Dean yelled as he was knocked to the ground by Kate who was buying time to free her hands. She put her boot on his chest and pressed down hard, “Oh sugar I am looking forward to this…” she said, her heel bruising his sternum. She had superior strength in this moment, he struggled to gain footing again. 

It was short-lived however. Suddenly, her head came plopping down and rolled to a stop next to him, “Argh,” he grumbled. Lana had her bloody machete raised. She reached down and pulled him up. 

“Hey thanks-” Dean started.

“NO! KATE!” Luther screamed. He began charging Lana. 

Without thinking, Dean got low and let Luther charge until he could send the vampire sprawling to the ground. He was in a rage and Dean couldn’t blame the guy -- if anyone took Lana from him he’d see red too. However, the problem was this was a blood-thirsty monster who would not be allotted the proper grieving window. 

“Don’t think so!!” Dean called. However, when he raised his machete to kill Luther -- the vampire was able to knock it from his hand. Lana jumped in to help but another vampire intercepted her -- causing her to fight with the follower. She yelled, “Dean! Dean!” 

Dean was on the losing side of the fight with Luther -- that was until a shot rang out. The entire field went deadly silent. Luther illuminated from the inside like a bolt of lightning before he fell to his knees: dead. 

Florence held the smoking gun and now they knew: it really did kill anything. 

The few other vampires left took this as a moment to flee. Two escaped, two others were taken down in their escape attempt by Sam and Lily as a team on the outskirts. 

Right now, they weren’t worried about two covenless lackeys. 

The group gathered together in a field of carnage. 

“Look - uh -- thanks,” Dean told Florence who nodded. For her, she was just doing what anyone would do for their family, “No thanks needed, Dean.”

However, to the surprise of everyone, John rounded on Florence, “What were you thinking? Wasting bullets?” 

“Dad!” Sam exclaimed, “She saved Dean’s life!”

“Well he shouldn’t have needed saving!” John rounded on Sam. Dean had been distracted by Lana (in his mind) forcing the domino effect of events to cause Florence to fire a round).

Florence could tell that things were about to escalate and she took a breath. “We had to make sure it did what it was supposed to do, and while I’m sad it had to be tested in this situation, it’s good it was. Besides, Dean did a good job.”

“Every bullet counts,” John protested, shaking his head.

“How many bullets do you think it’s going to take to take Azazel down?” Florence asked him. “There’s still five rounds left. I wouldn’t just waste them willy-nilly.”

He supposed that he couldn’t argue with her there: they both wanted Azazel dead, and as quickly as possible. This had been their life for all of Lana’s and Sam’s lives, and before for Florence. So in a huff, John said they should go back to the motel, and everyone got into their respective cars after cleaning up a bit after themselves, and they decided to deal with this in a little bit.

**The Motel - Later  
** All six hunters decided to hang out in the boys’ room, and they looked around before John spoke up. At first, the girls thought that he was going to extend his displeasure, but he caught them all off guard with what he said next.

“Now that we know that the gun works, we have to track Azazel down,” John told them, taking a breath. “Someone has to carry it, and while I think it should be Florence or I, I see the wheels turning in her head.”

Florence nodded slowly. “He expects you and I. I think Lily and Lana should have it. After us, he’ll expect your boys to have it just because of your one track mind. Then again, maybe the six of us could make things work.”

“Maybe,” Lana spoke up, standing up and heading for the door. “Give me a moment.”

Lily took a deep breath. “I just want the gun to be safe.”

John agreed that the gun needed to be safe over everything else, and perhaps the girls really  _ should _ be the keepers of it. While he liked to be in control of everything, he did think that Florence was someone that he could trust no matter what and if she thought it was safe...maybe he had to let it happen.

Looking up, John saw Lana come in with a pack of ice, and she moved past everyone to place it against Dean’s jaw. At this point, John knew, and while she didn’t want to be overly PDA, she did want to be able to take care of him because that was just who she was. Dean smiled at her and put his hand over hers when she pressed it against his jaw, and John spoke up again, startling all of them.

“You know what I did when you boys were born?” John asked them.

Dean and Sam looked at their father. “What?”

“I put a hundred dollars every month into an account for college,” John admitted, nodding when the boys looked perplexed. “I wanted a way out for you.”

“Then why did you get so mad when I left for school?” Sam asked him, honestly feeling the need to know.

He and John had fought so much about college, so much so that John had told him to never come back if he left them. So much so, that John had convinced himself that Sam was walking out on the family by choosing school over the life when they needed to kill this demon. Really? John couldn’t admit that there were things in this life that he simply could not provide for his kids.

“All I saw then, was that you were going to be alone,” John shrugged, shaking his head. “Now, that’s not to say that I agree with any of this. I taught you boys not to make ties. I taught you to be able to move from place to place and to camouflage, and I taught you to hunt demons, not…” he paused and decided against what he was going to say next when he looked from Lana to Florence, who looked like she would be displeased at what he said. “Feeling the need to protect someone over yourself is a weakness, and demons will see it as such, but you’re right: you’re not children anymore.”

Everyone was silent as they took in all of that information and then Sam asked, “What did you do with that college fund, Dad?”

“Spent it on ammo,” John responded to him.

Sam was the first to laugh, followed by John and then everyone else in the room. They were glad to have a moment that was really nice and wasn’t John yelling at everyone. Even if the girls knew that they hadn’t been accepted, they were simply being tolerated until John got to know them better. At the same time, he was definitely processing what he wanted to do next, and Lana sat down next to Dean and Dean kept close this time, their legs touching.

“We just want what is best for you guys. If you want to hunt Azazel together, then we should,” Florence agreed, shrugging her shoulders. “Though tonight, maybe we should just sleep? Figure out what we want to do together in the morning after food and coffee?”

Lana knew what  _ that _ was code for. “I agree. Besides, Lily gets to keep my feet warm tonight.”

“Hey!” Dean said out loud without meaning to, but Lana was thrilled he’d said it.

“I didn’t agree to that!” Lily exclaimed, but she laughed and then nodded. “Some more girl time would be nice.”

Sam didn’t like the idea because he wanted to have Lily in his arms like usual, but he supposed he  _ should _ spend more time with his dad and his brother. That didn’t mean that he had to like it. He wanted to be with his girl, but they’d have more time to be together when the demon was good and gone. That was the plan, and that meant Dean and Lana would have to figure out their futures too.

“One night,” Dean told Lana, both of them making eye contact. “One.”

Lana smirked a little bit. “Maybe four…” she wiggled her fingers, but they both smiled at each other. “Maybe five…”

“I am not warming up your ice cold feet for five nights!” Lily told her, distracted when Sam stole a kiss and then Lana hopped up to drag her off. “I mean it. I barely wanna do it once.”

“It is not that bad. My feet are not that cold--Dean  _ exaggerates _ ,” Lana said as they headed out to go to the room that Florence had gotten, Florence following them.

John turned to Dean and gave him a look. “Really?”

“Her feet  _ are _ that cold,” Dean replied with a shrug, icing his jaw on his own now.

That wasn’t what his father meant and he knew it, but he wasn’t going to get into anyone’s good graces if he didn’t start being as truthful as he could be. Besides, John was right about what he had said about ties, and it was clear that he still wanted to talk about it.

“What are you going to do when this is done?” Sam asked John first.

John took a deep breath. “I don’t know. I haven’t really had time to think about it.”

“Me neither,” Dean admitted, and just like that, they were being pretty silent.

**The Girls  
** Florence laughed when they got into the room. “Well, I’m glad he knows, but Dean is screwed.”

“Well, not anymore. Lana isn’t doing that until he stops being a giant butthead,” Lily laughed, blushing when she realized she had just said that in front of Lana’s mother.

“Lily! That’s my mom!” Lana exclaimed, blushing herself.

Florence was laughing though. “Honey, I know you and Dean have been sleeping together. I’m old, I'm not  _ ancient _ , and I’m definitely not blind.”

Lana laughed a little, but she took a breath and decided that it was best to just let it go and get ready to go to bed. She didn’t really want to talk to her mother about her love life, and she laughed when she looked at Lily in her sleep clothes and she took a breath.

“Missing Sammy?” Lana asked her.

Lily shrugged gently. “I mean...maybe a little, but I like this. It’s like a sleepover and we don’t get enough of them. I’ve got Sam whenever, but tonight we’re normal girls at a sleepover, who at some point might be shushed by your mother.”

“Probably,” Florence teased, heading into the bathroom to brush her teeth. “Tomorrow we have to talk about the Colt so don’t stay up  _ too _ late, but you have no curfew.”

Lily climbed onto the bed she would share with Lana. She was quite a different bedfellow from Sam. It was strange not having the entirety of the bed taking up by another warm body always reaching out for her. Fluffing a pillow, she shoved it beneath the blankets and Lana looked at her in plain confusion as she changed. “Frozen foot barrier,” Lily replied simply.

Lana laughed, “Oh, Lily… you think a mere pillow can stop me?” she asked, tossing her dirtied, smelling clothes aside. She would also have to request a mandatory trip to the laundromat for everyone after that weird vampire-skunk cabbage dusting. 

“I’m not sleeping with you. I have no obligations to your cold feet,” Lily smiled as Lana climbed onto the bed.

“That’s where you’re wrong…” Lana slipped beneath the blankets, “That’s what family is — for better or for worse… or for cold.” 

“I want to review these vows…” Lily said, resting her head against the pillow. It was strange; merely hours ago they were decapitating vampires and using knives dipped in dead man’s blood to poison vampire queens, and yet by the time they reached bed it was as normal as cherry pie. 

“Sorry, no take backs,” Lana said as her feet slowly maneuvered through the cavern of pillow and blankets, seeking out the heat of Lily’s body. 

“I seriously recommend when you finally marry Buttface that you put this in your vows — because it’s OH MY GOD!” Lily exclaimed as Lana’s foot finally found Lily’s calf, “HE IS NOT EXAGGERATING!” 

Lana burst into laughter and even Florence had to laugh as she readied herself, happy to hear the girls at peace, having fun, not worried for the moment about the colt or the demon or anything but how frigid Lana’s toes were, “Girls…” she admonished like a mom but she could hardly keep the smile from her face. 

“Sorry!” Lily quipped. She was always a pretty good kid — never one to go against parents wishes or be the loud one at a sleepover but she couldn’t help it when she was sharing a bed with the queen of iceville. 

Lana wrapped her arms around Lily and pulled her against her body, “My cute-sicle.” she mumbled, knowing now that as much as she loved Dean (for better or for worse was an understatement) and as much as she wanted to make their crazy life work together — she also knew how important it was that Lily remained there too.


	21. Working Toward Forgiveness

**The Next Morning  
** A knock sounded at the girls door. Florence was already up and ready, quietly letting the girls get a few more winks but she answered the door — flooding the room with sunlight, “Oh, Dean, good morning.” she greeted cheerily. 

“Mornin’,” Dean replied. In his hand he held a carrier of three coffees, “Uh — we got a bunch of breakfast from a place down the street and uh —“ he handed the tray to Florence. He was distracted, looking over Florence’s shoulder to Lana who was starting to stir at the light disturbance. 

“Coffee—“ Florence finished with a knowing smile.

“Yeah,” Dean’s attention turned back to the matriarch, “Coffee. Gonna get talking about a plan soon if you want to…” 

“I’ll rouse the girls. Thanks, Dean,” she said before Dean disappeared to the room next door. The door shut and by the time Florence turned around both Lily and Lana were sitting up in bed.

“Coffee?” Lana asked. The smell had motivated her to sit up. 

“You seem to have the boys trained well,” Florence passed a cup to each girl before keeping the last one for herself, “Like father like sons…” she said with a smirk against the lid of her cup.

Lily looked to Florence with a smirk, “No. You got John Winchester to start getting you coffee in the morning?” John didn’t seem like a ‘serving’ type.

“More or less,” Florence nodded, “I think he found it made me much more amenable to the tasks at hand…”

“So like mother like daughter…” Lily looked to Lana because every one of Florence’s words rang true for her.

“Yep,” Lana wouldn’t even deny it as she took that first sip of sweet coffee, “I got it from my Mama.”

“My girl….” Florence kissed the top of Lana’s head, “But why don’t we get moving, girls? A lot has changed — a lot to discuss.” 

“Yeah, alright,” Lana mumbled. Still holding tight to her coffee she climbed out of bed, shortly followed by Lily. It was quick work to be ready enough to go one door over so it wasn’t long before the women filed into the boys room and filled the motel room to capacity. 

“Hashbrowns!” Lily exclaimed, fervently digging into one of the bags. She could forget for a moment John was in the room but there were hash browns at stake. 

“Hey - save some for the rest of us!” Dean called with a 3/4 eaten hash brown in his hands.

“You’re a pig,” Sam teased him, shaking his head. Lily came to join Sam on what should have been their bed but she’d yet to sleep a night in it. She sat cross-legged, her knee pressing against his thigh. Sam leaned over and kissed her temple, knowing not to interrupt her while she ate a hash brown. 

“Alright,” Florence broke the floor, hoisting herself to sit on the dresser top which let her face her family, “We made big strides yesterday but this fight is far from over.”

“Florence is right,” John was happy to talk business instead of sit awkwardly with his boys and their girls doing couple-type things that he still didn’t accept. Lana had taken a seat next to Dean and checked in on his jaw. She wouldn’t be happy if a vampire permanently messed up his pretty face. “We have the colt. We have five bullets. We need to kill that demon but he won’t make it easy. He’s been able to evade us this far.”

Lily felt a sinking in her stomach. Evade? Then why did she feel like she’d already come face to face with him several times since their apartment burned to the ground? However, she kept that to herself. 

“But with us you have a connection,” Lana piped up, “I know he wants something from me — he thinks he can still sway me to his side. He won’t stay away from me forever.”

John did not like her innate connection but she was right — maybe it was just what they needed to lure him out with if they could find a foolproof plan, “Maybe,” John replied. Florence remained tight lipped — she wouldn’t be jumping on board a plan to use her daughter as bait to the thing that ruined all of their lives. 

“And I know he wants Sam and I alive,” Lily spoke. John looked at her — wondering how she knew such a thing and what they meant for them. 

“Excuse me?” John felt too far out of the loop and that stung his ego.

Sam’s hand fell onto Lily’s leg and squeezed, “She sees things too,” he reminded his Dad, “He thinks there’s some great plan and he’s not willing to risk it. Lily’s right, could be an advantage.”

“Great, so I’m the expendable one.” Dean mumbled. 

“Are you seriously hurt right now because he doesn’t want you for some messed up Hell-ridden master plan?” Lana asked incredulously at the man’s fragile ego, “Unbelievable.” However, she was teasing him beneath it all. 

“Alright…” Dean took back the power in the room, “There’s gotta be a plan in this somewhere. But the boys and I were thinking — we created quite a mess with those vampires tonight and we should get out of town and get somewhere fresh. Nail down a plan and hunt this sucker down.” 

“Makes sense,” Florence nodded, “More important fish to fry than being questioned about ten headless bodies.” 

“I vote that our next meeting happens at a laundromat. Yesterday did some serious damage to my favorite pants.” Lana said seriously. 

John didn’t reply to her humor — however he couldn’t deny that soon they would have to find something of the story since six people had been dusted with the vampire deterrent and things were going to get ripe pretty fast. “Get your things together. The boys and I will nail down a destination.” John was already unfolding a map of the state and surrounding area. 

“I’ll check in with Bobby. Maybe he has a suggestion,” Florence added as the girls withdrew from the room to follow the next plan of action.

**On the Road  
** In the end, it was decided that it would be a lot easier if they all had somewhat of a base of operations. After all, with six of them gunning for this guy, they had a much better chance at making this work out in their favor. Plus, Florence had things at her place that they could use, and everyone in the group of hunters had been to and in her place before: everyone could shower, regroup, and sleep in whatever arrangements that they wanted.

Lana was still in the Mustang with her mother, but she was driving, and Sam had convinced Lily to ride with him because he’d been deprived of her company for too long. Perhaps Dean was a little annoyed that Sam got what he wanted, and Lana was with her mother, but he’d made this bed and he had to sleep in it. Things were sort of getting better, and Lana was at least paying him attention, but it just wasn’t the same.

“Think I’ll be forced to sleep in Annie’s room?” Dean found himself asking out loud a few hours into the drive back to Kansas.

Lily shrugged her shoulders. “I mean,  _ I’d _ make you.”

“I would too,” Sam agreed, shrugging when Dean looked at him. “Like perhaps you shouldn’t have made her doubt how much you like her. Have you even told her how you feel?”

“Not you too,” Dean told his brother, but he kind of felt a need to care and share in the moment.

It was rare he felt this way, and Lily for one wanted to talk about things, so she was taking advantage of the situation and trying to keep Dean talking. He’d hurt her new best friend and because of that, she’d had to endure cold feet for at least ten minutes because Lana couldn’t share his bed. Not to mention things were more than a little bit dysfunctional at best right now and Lily wasn’t a fan. Even Sam wasn’t a fan, because Lana had grown on him too, and he also didn’t want Dean to be alone when things semi returned to normal.

“It’s just a question,” Sam said as he glanced at Dean again. “Does she know?”

Dean took a breath. “I mean...I told her I felt the same when she said it.”

“You ‘Han Solo’d her,” Lily reminded him, having heard the story from Lana herself. “So even if she knows, if you haven’t said anything since, then the answer is ‘no’.”

Dean frowned at her words, but he knew that she was right, and he nodded before he went silent. Lily and Sam both wanted to lecture him, but they also needed him to come to this all on his own. After all, they couldn’t control his relationship with Lana, and they couldn’t make him do anything he didn’t want to. Plus, there was no reason to try and force them back together if Dean wasn’t going to get his act together and have more serious conversations with the woman that he loved, all on his own.

That was something that  _ he _ had to do.

All Dean really wanted right now, was to get things back to normal, but he couldn't really make that happen either right now. Things were supposed to be coming to a head, and so they needed to figure out what could be done and how to do it. At least they were all together like a real family--that included all the fighting.

As for Lana, she was just glad that part of this might finally end, however she didn't know what she was going to do after it ended. Honestly, they had a powerful gun, the demons were going to find out and then what? What kind of retaliation happened if they killed Azazel right now? She would never really be over this, but then things would change the direction of her life and she wasn't sure she was ready for it.

"When we get to the house, I need to go and check on your sister," Florence explained from the passenger seat. "I can't in good conscience not check on her. College is an easy place for demons and a trap. John wasn't wrong to be worried about Sam, just wrong to shut that door."

Lana nodded slowly. "I know, and while she was raised a hunter, I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to Annie. She's  _ my _ munchkin."

Florence laughed and nodded. "She and Lily would actually get along pretty well."

"I agree with you," Lana smiled, and then her hands tightened on the wheel after a moment. "I think...I think I'm going to stay with them."

"I think you should. You've created something good and I don't want you to give up just because it's hard right now," Florence reached over to squeeze her daughter's shoulder. "You can do this."

**Meckenzie House  
** The house was a nice base of operations, and after Florence explained everything to them that she needed to go, she and Lana exchanged hugs and Dean’s whole face lit up when he realized that Lana was staying. That at least helped, but now he was going to have to make a grand gesture: like sleeping in her room even if his Dad knew he was doing it.

"Honestly, I'm thinking after a good night's sleep, I should set a trail," John admitted, taking a breath. "I'll crash in the living room. Florence hates when people touch her stuff."

Lana laughed and nodded at him. "You can sleep in her room. It's fine. I'll fix everything after you go. I guess we just need to make demons think you have the gun, but that's dangerous."

"I can handle it. Besides, I do trust your mother's instincts, and I know she left the Colt with you," John told her, looking directly at her. "I'd rather you stay with the boys just in case Azazel doesn't take the bait."

Lily was amazed that John wasn’t afraid. He spoke of creating a diversion and hoping the diversion worked — going out on his own to fake out the demon that ruined all of their lives... and he wasn’t afraid. He was determined. The only nerves Lily could detect felt more like fear that the plan wouldn’t work and throw them back to square one — or endanger Sam and Dean.

As Lana and John seemed to have a moment, Sam pulled Lily away and used this moment to disappear.

“Yeah, we definitely work better together,” Lana confirmed to John’s words. That was one thing he didn’t have to force — Lana was sticking around for good. 

“I can see that,” John admitted although he said no more. He did not like being wrong or surprised by such things but he also wasn’t going to lie about it — he knew the boys had capable women watching their backs. He still worried about distractions but after watching Lana wield a machete — he was impressed. Like mother, like daughter. He gave Lana one last look before he hoisted his duffel over his shoulder and disappeared into Florence’s room lest become emotional in front of Lana. 

“Think he likes you...” 

Lana turned at the sound of Dean’s voice. He’d shed his jacket, happy to have a break in a space that allowed them all to stay together but not on top of each other. 

“Now, I wouldn’t go that far,” Lana replied, crossing her arms over her chest. 

Dean gave her a small smile. He wanted to step forward and put his arms around her but he hesitated, wavering a few feet in front of her, “Ah, I would.” 

Lana took half a step toward him, “He did leave that gun with me without a fight. So maybe I’d say there’s some kind of improvement,” she admitted, “Just a little.”

Dean gave a chuckle, “That’s more than a little, Lanni.” 

Lana paused. Her nickname passing through his lips made her miss him — but he’d screwed up so royally and she was still hurt. After a long pause, Dean felt compelled to speak again. While he rubbed the back of his neck he started, “I - uh...I was going to go pick up some beer and maybe when I get back you wanna... have one on the patio with me? I mean, take advantage of being here while we can....”

Lana nodded, “Sure.”

“Okay,” Dean said hopefully. Without much more, the pair separated. Dean left for the convenience store and Lana took her things to her room. 

**Guest Room  
** Lily and Sam disappeared into the guest room which was to become their little hideaway. 

“You know, it’s a lot harder to sleep next to my brother without you there. I don’t know how you do it but he is way less annoying when you’re there...” Sam said, sorting through his duffel. 

Lily laughed, “Lana’s actually a great bedfellow,” she smirked, “I had a great couple nights...” she stepped up behind Sam and wrapped her arms around his middle, resting her chin on his back. 

Sam chuckled. He stopped sorting through his things and turned around to pull her against his chest, “Are you leaving me for Lana now?” He asked, brushing her hair away from her face.

Lily smiled, “No, no way! Her feet are way too cold. I like it warm,” she replied, giving him a squeeze of affirmation. 

“I always thought Dean was exaggerating,” Sam posed.

“Yeah, me too. For once he’s totally right. But don’t tell him I said that,” she added quickly. Sam laughed, “Your secret’s safe with me.” He leaned down and planted a kiss to her lips, happy to have her back. He knew how much he loved her but spending a couple nights without her really threw into perspective just how much her mere presence meant to him on a daily basis. 

“Are you okay, being here I mean?” Lily asked when they broke apart. When they’d left Lawrence last time things had been — heavy. Although Lana’s house had good energy and space for everyone to relax a little, they were back so close to his childhood home. 

Sam nodded, “Yeah,” he ran his hand through her hair, “We’ve got bigger worries coming up,” he added. The thought of his previous dream flashed through his mind and his lips tugged downward. Lily still didn’t know about this possible vision but he still wasn’t ready to tell her; telling Lily made it real and that was not something he was willing to risk. 

“Do you think it’ll happen, I mean...do you really think this can be over?” Lily asked. It didn’t seem real. The demon that ruined their lives dead? Their driving purpose to hunt over? A chance at a semi-normal life? 

“I don’t know,” Sam admitted, “But I hope so,” he added sincerely, “I hope so...”

“Me too,” Lily breathed, pressing her cheek to his chest until she felt his heartbeat. 

With just a little maneuvering, Sam lifted her off of her feet and laid her onto the bed, his body hovering over hers. She looked up at him with a smile. She truly had missed him — her other half. She had no doubt soulmates existed because she was looking right at hers.

“I think...” Lily muttered, her fingers working down his shirt, unbuttoning one button at a time, “That you don’t need this anymore...” She slipped her hands beneath it and pushed it off his shoulders.

“Huh...” Sam returned, his lips brushing against hers, “Because I was thinking you don’t need these anymore...” His fingers played at the button of her pants. Lily laughed girlishly, over the moon to be here with Sam in the midst of their chaotic lives, suspending in a moment just for them.

“What a coincidence,” Lily pressed her lips to his again, holding them hostage for a long moment as their hands battled their clothes like a race against time. 

**Outside, Later  
** When Dean returned with beer, he found Lana already sitting outside. She looked out to the darkened tree line with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. 

“Got your favorite,” he held up a six pack as he came to take the seat next to her, dropping the beer between them. He passed her one before cracking open his own.

“Thanks,” Lana breathed. A beer wasn’t such a bad idea. Perfect for a night like this.

A silence fell between them as they each took a long sip. But finally Dean started, “So...” 

Lana looked over but remained silent. 

“Look I—“ but he paused again. He wasn’t the caring-and-sharing type but he knew Lana meant more — he had to do something, “I know I was an ass.” 

“Yeah,” Lana let go a laugh. She didn’t know what she had been expecting him to say but  _ that _ wasn’t it. However, she appreciated it, “I’d say that’s an understatement.” 

“Okay, a  _ big _ ass....” Dean concluded, “You deserve better. I mean, way better than me that’s for sure, but... I can’t....” his beer hung loosely in his hand as he found his words, “I can’t do this without you, Lanni.”

“But when your Dad came in...” she started but Dean interrupted her, “Yeah, I know.” He admitted, “I messed up. I really stepped in it. I know that. Every minute was torture and I knew I was digging myself in deeper and deeper... All I had to do was show how much I love you and I messed up.” 

“How much you  _ what _ ?” Lana asked her personal Han Solo.

“How much I love you, Lana. Like more than anything.” Dean looked over at her, no longer letting his fear-driven defense walls drive her away. They all stemmed from his dad’s constant ‘no ties’ line of teaching but maybe for once his Dad was wrong.  _ Really _ wrong. He was better with Lana, stronger with Lana. Hell, Lana was another set of strong eyes watching Sam and Lily’s backs too -- how could he let himself mess this up? He couldn’t, not any longer.

“You showed it better before your Dad showed up,” she mused, but she smiled at him.

It honestly was nice to hear, and she wanted to believe that they could move forward from here as long as they were much more honest. Things had just felt so abrupt when he was so touchy-feely and then suddenly it was absolutely nothing. Cold turkey, no affection. Didn’t mean that she didn’t love him too, and it didn’t mean that she didn’t forgive him, she just needed him to show it more often.

“I know I did,” he agreed with a nod. “I honestly went from a talk about being together for the foreseeable future, to not even holding your hand. I’m surprised you didn’t leave.”

Lana nodded slowly. “I almost did.”

The admission made Dean feel even worse, but it was probably for the best because he needed to know that his actions had pushed her this far. Even with almost leaving, however, she had found a reason to stay and it was probably just for Lily, but he wanted to believe that they were a family and that meant toughing things out even when you were mad at each other.

“My mother actually convinced me not to,” Lana told him, chewing on her lip. “She pointed out that we had something honest and even though we hit a rough patch, we could figure it out. Communication. Coming from the woman that wants to bang Bobby, but still.”

Dean had to laugh at that. “She really has a hard on for him.”

“Oh, you have no idea. I mean, I get it though. Manly beard, fatherly demeanor--I’m sure Bobby was a looker when he was your age,” Lana whistled, laughing more when Dean pushed on her knee. “What?”

“I am sitting right here,” Dean motioned, smirking when she said she knew that. “Wow, just...want me to grow a beard?”

Lana shook her head. “No, no...I mean...maybe someday, but I prefer when you’re growing hair back at the end of the day. Little scratchy--perfect texture on my thighs.”

Now that was  _ dirty _ , and it caught Dean off guard for a second, but he whistled too and then took a swig of his beer. If that wasn’t an invitation for something, then he didn’t know his girl very well, and she smiled as she took a swig too, watching as Dean’s cheeks went pink. Didn’t matter how many times they talked like this on their own, it still made Dean blush and Lana  _ loved that _ .

“You are about to start something,” Dean warned her playfully.

She nodded slowly. “I know...I also know that the man I love owes me.”

**The Next Morning  
** Everyone had surfaced at different times for food, but luckily the fridge was stocked and there were snacks in the pantry, to keep everyone sated until the morning. Even though Dean had worn her out, Lana left him in her bed and went jogging that morning, saying a jolly ‘hello’ to John as he worked in the living room. She still didn’t think that he  _ liked _ her, but he definitely respected her more. Seeing her in action was rare for him, and perhaps he had jumped to conclusions after finding out  _ why _ she was so good at this.

Back in the day, she was simply Florence’s eldest daughter. Mary had been the only one to even know about the true nature of the young girl, but she’d never said anything and always had nice things to say about her. After all, she was Florence’s daughter, and the two women were just happy to live down the street from each other and depend on each other when it was needed. Then John had seen her grow--not as much as Bobby because of all the moving--and once he hadn’t been so harsh with her.

Things had changed.

He still wasn’t on board with Lana and Dean being in a relationship, but even he had to admit that when Dean wasn’t hiding, he was  _ happy _ . Lana watched his back, took care of him and Sam and Lily, and she was still a great hunter with terrific reflexes. Of course everyone made mistakes, but what John on edge was that he didn’t completely understand demon blood. He just knew that when it came to it, he didn’t  _ trust _ it...so it was really hard to trust this young woman with his children, while simultaneously being wary of her.

Which brought him to Lily, because he hadn’t know anything about her until he had started digging the night before, and that was a whole other matter. She and Sam had a  _ lot _ in common, and John didn’t even know how to broach the subject. He just knew that in his being gone, this foursome had formed and while it seemed to work, John just hoped it wouldn’t be his sons’ undoing.

“I should have known you’d be up,” Dean chuckled, padding into the kitchen to the coffee pot. “You and Sam are alike like that.”

John smiled and nodded. “Yeah...so why are you up? Unless something’s wrong, you snore until 11.”

“Yeah, I used to,” Dean admitted with a nod. “Now I’m used to Lana rolling out of bed to jog, and I either get up shortly after because I can’t get back to sleep, or I force myself to get more shut eye.”

“I used to do the same with your Mom,” John mused with a nod, twisting his wedding ring. “I’m still not used to it. I mean, I knew eventually you’d find someone since you remind me so much of your mother but...I didn’t expect it to be Florence’s eldest daughter.”

Dean nodded and sipped the coffee Lana had made before her run. “I didn’t either. Honestly? It pissed me off how much better at hunting she was than me sometimes. Plus she’s bossy--she is  _ so _ bossy. Then she told us about Azazel, and I tried to throw that wall up, but the way she is with Sam and Lily and the way she protects us? I don’t know, I guess...it just happened. Suddenly I was just here in this place. She really isn’t evil.”

“I know,” John sighed, looking at his son. “I know how she is, and you’re right, she  _ is _ bossy,” John chuckled, Dean laughing and nodding, “I just worry. I don’t know what it means for her to have that much demon blood coursing through her veins.”

“None of us do,” Dean agreed with a nod. “I don’t want to believe the worst though. I can’t. I want to be exactly who you taught me to be, but I also want her.”

“Well holy crap,” Sam said, Dean and John both looking up at him as he came into the living room with them. “I never thought I would hear any of this.”

John laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “Well, it has been awhile.”

That was an understatement, considering that John had been so unreachable and that Sam had been at school thinking his father might not be happy to see him, and Dean had been so...well Dean. Sam knew more things now though, and he knew that his father, while an ass sometimes, still loved them, and he was just sometimes blinded by hunting. Now, they had some time to really talk it out, and Sam wanted to be part of it because he needed John to understand him, and him and Lily.

“When this is over...I mean...I never thought I’d be back in this,” Sam explained, John nodding because he had been expecting this.

John took a deep breath. “Look, I know you fell in love in college, and I know you were making a life for yourself, and I’m sorry. I got carried away with my need to kill this demon.”

“Which I get, but you need to understand that we’re a unit now. You were doing what you thought that you had to do, and Lily and I had each other. Then Dean came and we became a trio, and Lana came and now we’re another family.” Sam shrugged his shoulders. “You taught us that family means more than anything.”

He got John there and he nodded, smiling at his boys before he started to pack up the rest of his things. John had had breakfast earlier, and he took a deep breath when Sam went to get some coffee as well. This felt natural for them, and John really had hoped that someday his children would be happy. Here they were and yet still all he saw was the demon war before them.

“I just want you  _ both _ to be careful,” John nodded before he stood up. “When Lana gets back, make sure she tells me and Flor. I want to know the four of you are together and with the weapon.”

Dean nodded, Sam agreeing as well, and after some hugs, they locked up after John and while Dean went back to bed to wait for Lana to come in, Sam went and crawled back into bed with Lily.

Sam got right back into bed, resuming his position as the big spoon. He was in no rush to wake her since Lana wasn’t even back yet. However, Lily stirred when he pulled her against him and kissed her temple, “Dad left,” he told her, “Back to just the four of us.” 

“Lana and Dean make up yet?” Lily asked, knowing the hell the four of them would be in if Lana had yet to forgive Dean.

“Judging by the mood Dean was in this morning I’m guessing yeah,” Sam chuckled. He nipped along Lily’s neck and she was more than content to let him go to work, “Good, then he’ll be able to handle just me.” 

“What do you mean?” Sam asked, half-listening as his lips worked her skin. 

“I haven’t forgiven him and since Dean putting out doesn’t smooth things over between us he’s going to have to work even harder,” she said with a tone of seriousness despite how silly it all sounded. 

“Mmm…” Sam murmured in response but he was doing really good work and didn’t want to ruin it by saying how he couldn’t help but be amused at the shit pile his brother had stepped in by being an asshole.

“You keep going we’re never getting out of bed…” Lily informed him, “You know I can’t resist…” she shivered as his lips brushed the lobe of her ear and he bit down gently causing the tiny hair all over her body to rise to attention. 

“I know,” Sam smirked. He didn’t often have time to be silly or romantic. Most often in their lives they either had time for minimal PDA or a quick bang in the backseat of the Impala. But here? It was homey and quiet and safe. 

“You’re evil…” she breathed, unable to resist anymore. She turned her body towards him and captured his lips with hers. With easy maneuvering she was able to lay him flat on his back and plant her knees on either side of him. Her hair brushed over his chest, her face leaned down close to his, “This is so much better than going for a jog.”

“Yeah,” Sam chuckled, running his hands up her back until they tangled in her hair. 

The rest of what transpired is not suitable for young audiences. 

**Lana’s Room  
** Dean couldn’t get himself back to sleep. Lana would be back soon anyway so he resigned to getting dressed and looking at her old pictures again. One thing he and Sam didn’t have were a lot of pictures from growing up. Dean had one in his possession, just one. Sammy was about four and looked just as miserable as ever. He loved it. 

“You’re not going to ask about the outfit again, are you?” Lana swept into the room, her body glistening with sweat from her run. It had actually felt good to push her feet against the pavement and run off some of her lingering emotions. 

“You read my mind,” Dean teased. For once, he had not been thinking of such a thing since they were still at such a fragile place but he liked her attitude. 

“You’re an easy read, Dean Winchester,” she teased. She pulled a bundle of clothes from her duffle, “I’m going to shower,” she started, disappearing into the en suite.

Dean watched her go, unable to help but lick his lips. Then, after a brief pause he heard her voice again, “You coming or what?” 

Dean wasted not another breath. He had already thrown his shirt aside by the time he crossed the threshold, “Yes ma’am!” 

**Later that Morning  
** Lana and Dean descended into the kitchen, ravenous. Lily and Sam were seated at the table with half-drank coffees and a plate of mystery crumbs. Lily looked between them — between their flushed faces and the moods they emanated she smirked to herself. She and Lana caught eyes and it was all understood. 

“Glad we got here first,” Lily broke the silence, “You two seem hungry.” 

“Yeah, well, had to wait for this one to get back to eat,” Dean said, making an excuse that did not involve vigorous and repeated intercourse. 

“Dean she got back like an hour ago,” Sam returned with a sly smirk. Sure, he and Lily were getting at it but he was an observant Sasquatch either way. 

Dean had no retort so he pretended not to hear his brother as he went about making himself an oversized sandwich. Finally, Lana and Dean joined Lily and Sam at the table. Their unit was back together. 

“So John’s gone, huh? Starting his trail?” Lana asked with a cup of coffee clutched between her hands.

Sam nodded, “Yeah. Wants us to check in when we’re ready to go — which is really different from when he first showed up. Now he actually wants us to stick together.” 

Dean was trying to navigate his overbuilt sandwich into his mouth and not paying attention to the talk of work or the task ahead. He knew the task ahead: kill the demon that ruined all of their lives, then eat some pie. Easy peasy. 

“You’re going to have to unhinge your jaw if you want to eat it like that,” Lana threw him a look, “Please don’t!” she added quickly with the thought that he might actually do it. 

“I got this,” he replied defensively. If Dean Winchester was good at one thing: it was eating. He would not be defeated by the sandwich of his dreams. 

“I was thinking,” Lily started, “What if tonight we went out? Found a bar. Played some pool. Did something normal? Not hustling for money but just…”

“…hung out,” Lana finished, pondering it over, “We could. We need to give your Dad a good head start in setting his trail… and God knows these beds are way more comfortable than any motel.” 

“…and more food,” Dean added but it came out garbled and accompanied by a few flecks of food flying out onto the table. Sam’s lips downturned in displeasure at his brother’s messy antics. 

“I think it could be a good idea,” Sam chimed in, “No reason not to take advantage of the situation while we have it.”

Lily smiled, “Good. Then it’s settled. I think I have to kick your butts in quarters. Been too long.” 

“Oh please,” Dean started after a swallow, “I’ll destroy you.” 

“No way,” Lily replied seriously, “I know better than to play you in pool, but quarters is my territory. Better watch yourself.”

“I’ll play you in pool,” Lana piped up. Her and Dean were an even match -- both trained in hustling the table. This wouldn’t be for money -- this would be for ultimate bragging rights. 

“Oh no,” Sam shook his head with a laugh. He had a feeling tonight would descend into a crazy competition that would leave someone a sore loser. If it was Lily he could coax her back quite easily but Lana or Dean? The car ride when they left Lawrence would be miserable.

They needed something to get their minds off of everything, however, and Sam was more than happy to oblige them all in this. Besides, Lana and Dean were still mending--even if they were mostly fine again--and Lily still wanted Dean to make things up to her. What better way than to just be the four of them for a bit?

“Just remember that I am the master, and you are the padawan,” Lana told Dean with a shrug, pouring herself more coffee. “Also, I desperately need to see Lily beat your ass at quarters.”

Dean let out a low chuckle. “Oh, if it wasn’t on before, it’s on now.”

Lana just smiled, and after a little more hanging out the four of them, Sam and Dean both left Lily and Lana alone together to get some things out of the way. For a moment, it was silent, but then Lily spoke up because she couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“So you’ve forgiven him?” Lily asked her.

Shrugging, Lana took a breath. “Mostly. He’s made everything in the last little bit all about me, which has been nice, but I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop? It’s one thing to have him finally admit he loves me instead of just saying he feels the same way that I do, but if he can’t actually do that in public with other people that mean something to him, then...nothing got fixed.”

Lily nodded at her words. “I mean, you’re right. Even apologizing, at what point was there regular PDA with him while his father was here?”

“There wasn’t,” Lana admitted with a nod. “I just don’t feel right not giving him a chance to correct himself. Then it’s also me not giving things a chance and I love him so...I have to let him fix his mistakes.”

“As long as he fixes them,” Lily told her. “Everything kind of started to fall apart.”

She wasn’t wrong, and Lana nodded at her before she smiled. “How about, you and I do some good old fashioned dolling up and then we just focus on beating Dean at stuff tonight, yeah?”

Lily liked that idea and besides: it had been a while since either of them had ‘dolled up’ for anything.


	22. Hunter's Night Out

**Bar, Lawrence  
** Not everything was how Lana remembered it growing up, but she was glad that one of her favorite bars hadn’t closed. Being in Lawrence was still a little emotional for the boys, but Dean always felt more at home in a lively bar than an actual home, and Sam was just glad to be with Lily tonight, even if she and Dean had an unspoken thing going on right now.

“First task is to see the food list because if you’re planning on drinking, something needs to soak up some of it,” Lana laughed as she looked at Dean. “Hey, also, water for every beer.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Come on.”

Taking Lana’s hand, he tugged her toward the bar and then Sam gave Lily’s hand a squeeze as he looked around. It wasn’t the kind of place that Dean would have dragged them to, but it still had an atmosphere that they were used to. People were playing pool over in one corner at the tables, there was a restaurant area in the back with ‘no smoking signs’, and the bar and the high tables with stools were strategically placed to be inviting.

“I wonder how many times Lana hustled pool here,” Lily laughed, shaking her head. “This is probably where she learned it.”

Sam laughed too and nodded. “You’re probably right. After all, people around these parts know her.”

“Then again, she comes from a family of hunters. Who knows how far back that goes,” Lily pondered out loud as she and Sam found a booth to sit at. They wanted to enjoy themselves, and Lily’s eyes lit up when she saw the karaoke stage area. “Oh.My.God.”

Sam’s eyes followed hers and he gave her a look, but his comment was interrupted when Dean and Lana came over with the drink menu, and the food menu. Apparently Lana was hungry and Dean just wanted beer, but as much as she liked the nachos and beer idea, Lana wanted whiskey tonight. That just made Sam laugh as the playful banter between Lana and Dean seemed to resume, and yet Lily wasn’t as happy as she had been about it before.

Lily wanted Dean and Lana to be happy--both separately and together--but she was still upset. Dean hadn’t just been an ass to Lana when John showed up, but to her as well, and he had a lot to make up for still. He could find a groove with Lana easier in a way because they had plenty of ways to distract each other while they healed, but he had to make it up to Lily in a much different way. Dean still had yet to apologize as well because Lily didn’t think that he had really realized how much of a jerk he had been to everyone. She was glad he was so worried about losing Lana, but he still needed to atone.

Lana understood that, and she sat down on hers and Dean’s side of the booth. “Lily, I’m signing us up for some karaoke a few drinks in, okay? We need it.”

“We do not  _ need _ it,” Lily laughed, but she nodded regardless. “I’m still in.”

“Do something cheesy,” Dean smiled.

Sam laughed and shook his head. “That doesn’t feel like them.”

Laughing, Lana got everyone’s orders and then she motioned to Sam before she went back to the bar. While she would have loved to make Dean help her to carry things back, she knew that Dean and Lily needed to have some time to talk to each other. She knew it wasn’t just her that Dean needed to apologize to.

“If you think they’re actually going to talk…” Sam started, shaking his head. “Lily will probably ignore him.”

Lana shrugged her shoulders. “I mean maybe, but she could also call him out. Have you seen her? She’s a tiny little bomb waiting to go off sometimes--in the best way. I love that about her.”

“I do too,” Sam smiled in agreement.

“You love  _ everything _ about her, so I don’t think that you get to count,” Lana laughed, shaking her head and then leaning on the bar. “Are you okay?”

Sam hadn’t expected to have this conversation with Lana, but he supposed that in the grand scheme of things, he and Lana were bonded too. Their relationship was based on being honest and being somewhat abrasive, but it worked for them. They didn’t have to lie to each other or circle around issues, and they needed to spend more time together, even though they butted heads a lot too.

“I’m alright,” Sam promised with a nod. “Having Dad around was eye opening, I guess. Are  _ you _ okay? This is the second time I wondered if you were going to leave.”

Lana shook her head. “I can’t leave you guys--I love you all too much. Plus, if I left, you’d start feeding Lily motel coffee again and we both know that I can’t let that happen.”

Sam laughed out loud at that. “Wow. You are never going to let that go.”

“Oh, never,” Lana promised with a smile.

Sam nodded and then he glanced at her. “So, what did you study?”

“Hmm?” Lana asked, confused for a moment.

“You said you had your Bachelors,” Sam reminded her.

She hadn’t expected him to ask about that, but she didn’t really talk about it much because she had  _ chosen _ to make hunting her life. While Annie was definitely not feeling that way, Lana had only gotten her degree to know that she could have it--to know that if it came down to it, she had something to fall back on. Perhaps a part of her always wondered if she’d become a retired hunter and be more like Bobby in life, and she wanted to have a safety net should she ever actually want to settle down and stop all of this.

“Art History,” Lana responded with a nod. “I know, I know--I do not look the type at all, but I was always interested in that stuff in High School. Part of it was wanting to research witch stuff because Mom was lying about my powers, but I dunno. I used to sketch, and compose short stories, and it just kind of clicked. Went more of a drama route in the end as far as fine arts are concerned, but that helps with all of this.”

Sam nodded at her. “Yeah, it does. You’re seasoned at the parts you play. Plus, it makes sense that you know more about artifacts and stuff when we need it, what with the history part.”

“Hey, what can I say? I’m interested in cursed things,” Lana laughed as she shrugged. “I don’t know. I wanted to have one good, normal thing in my life? I’ve never been normal and I never will be normal, but should I ever get hurt and be forced to retire, or should I ever choose to lead a different life, I wanted to have something to fall back on. I might leap into things like a reckless rebel, but Mom taught me to always be ready for  _ anything _ .”

“Safety net,” Sam agreed with a nod. “Your Mom really made all of this work. I don’t get it. Having her as an influence and Dad still did what he did.”

Lana nodded at him. “Yeah, but she has never had the luxury of seeing things in black and white. Seeing red about your mother dying couldn’t take over the fact that she felt like she had failed her just having me. My mother didn’t want Annie and I to feel like we didn’t belong. Your father just wanted to kill a demon that ruined all of your lives, and he forgot sometimes that you needed your own safety net. He even admitted he didn’t want you to do this forever. My mother had to worry about herself just like he had to worry about himself. It’s all circumstances.”

“Tell me about it,” Sam nodded, but he decided that could be the end of the conversation when the bartender came over to take their order.

Meanwhile, Lily and Dean had been left to talk about things.

It had gone quiet at the booth when Lana dragged Sam to help her with their abnormally large order for the four of them — but they were just that kind of group. Little bit of everything for everybody. 

“So you really think you can beat me...?” Dean started as he fished into his pocket and threw a few coins onto the table to find a quarter, “That’s a tall order and you’re — well,” he smirked. However, when Lily merely crossed her arms over her chest and replied with a “Mmhm,” Dean realized something was off. 

“Alright, Munchkin...what’s up?” Dean leaned forward with his forearms bracing the table.

Lily didn’t want to say — he should know. Wasn’t it obvious. However, when Lily glanced back and realized Lana was purposefully keeping Sam away and they were stuck together for a moment she might as well answer, “You’re a big butt, you know that?” She asked. 

“A big ‘butt’?” Dean replied as if to confirm that was the insult she’d chosen, “You’re still upset about the whole Lana-thing, aren’t you?” He shook his head as the realization dawned on him, “Look, she’s alright — we’re working things out... nothing to worry about.” 

“It’s not all about Lana — I mean yeah it is but...” Lily tightened her arms around her chest and tried to figure out how she told the thick-skulled man in front of her that his reaction to his father’s arrival hadn’t just been to screw Lana over — but he basically stopped talking to her too. They barely conversed until after they killed the vampires — after she had put herself out as bait to save them all... 

“But what?” Dean pressed. He also glanced over to Lana and Sam, wishing they’d arrive to save him from digging deeper into the emotions John had shaken up. 

“But—“ Lily realized if she kept going she was going to cry so she pressed her lips together, “But you’re going to get destroyed by me.” She slapped her hand down onto a quarter and slid it across the table to herself, “So buckle up.” 

Dean wasn’t going to press the matter further — she’d just given him the easy way out. Well, it would make things harder later but he didn’t think about that now. So he played along, “Sorry, Munchkin, I’ll be too busy whooping your ass to buckle your car seat.” 

Lily’s mouth dropped open. It was easier to fall into banter and get ready to kick his ass then deal with how he’d hurt her — how he’d hurt Lana. However, Sam and Lana returned moments later and filled the table with baskets of food, and drinks all around. They placed a rocks glass whiskey in the middle of the table. 

“Yum!” Lily exclaimed when she found the basket of fries, reaching over to grab a few fries and bring them to her lips. 

“Thought you’d like those,” Sam smirked, draping his arm around her while he brought his beer to his lips with the other. For a moment, they were back in college — out for a night of pure fun and drinks. 

“You know me well,” Lily smiled, her chipper and bubbly self returning. 

“Okay, okay, okay!” Lana started, “So it’s been like forever since the college thing — how do you play quarters again?” She figured it was a good warm up to pool where she would drag Dean’s ass across the felt. 

“We take turns trying to shoot the quarter into the cup — whoever gets it in passes the drink to whoever they want and they have to chug it and catch the quarter in their teeth.” Lily handed the quarter to Lana, “You can go first. Bounce the quarter off the table and into the cup.”

“Don’t miss, Lanni,” Dean winked, “Wouldn’t what to have to be the one to chug the first drink of the night.”

“Oh, I’m not worried,” Lana winked at Lily. She bounced the quarter but it clinked against the rim and missed. 

Sam took a turn and missed terribly, “It’s been a while, okay?” Sam said as the table burst into laughter.

“Still love you,” Lily pressed a kiss to his lips, “But I got this, babe.” She took the quarter and bounced it skillfully on the table and it plunked into the whiskey and her eyes met Deans with a little bit of devil in them. She pushed the whiskey over to him, “Drink.”

“Gonna take a lot more than one whiskey to take me down, Munchkin,” he said before he shot the whiskey. He then nearly choked on the quarter and it ended up shooting across the table which made Lana exclaim, “Ew!’ With a big laugh.

“We need another whiskey,” Lily said.

“Maybe it’s better if we stick beer in the middle...” Sam said, being the voice of reason. 

“Why?” Lily and Lana replied simultaneously. 

“Alright...” Sam gave in. This was not the fight he was going to pick tonight - besides, he had a feeling Dean would be the one drinking all of the whiskey. 

A few more rounds into quarters, Lily dominated, just as she anticipated. However, eventually Dean was able to sink one. He felt overtly victorious. However, when he palmed the whiskey, ready to pass it off he noticed the looks from the two girls. He sure as heck couldn’t pass it to either one of them. He then looked to Sam who gave him ‘a look.’

“Alright fine,” Dean tossed the whiskey back himself. He shook his head as the whiskey burned on the way down, “Alright, alright, alright! New game.” He called. He was tired of losing. 

“Pool table’s open,” Lana noted, “Sure you can handle losing anymore?” She leaned over, brushing her lips over his ear. She knew he had a hard time losing and she wanted him to know that she still loved him, even if she didn’t want to see him win tonight. 

“Oh, see, I’m not gonna lose again. Couples. Me, Lana, Sam, Lily... let’s do this.” He slammed his hands on the table before standing, taking his beer with him. 

“Uhm...wait,” Lana slid out of the bar and followed him, glancing back at Lily before she pulled Dean’s shirt back towards her, “Duos... me, Lily, you, Sam...” Lana approached to grab a pool cue. 

“Oh, c’mon. Sammy?! No offense dude but you suck.” Dean threw back to Sam as he got his own cue. 

“Offense taken,” Sam said with a small chuckle, walking behind Lily into the area with the billiards table. 

“Don’t listen to him,” Lily smirked, leaning up to kiss Sam, “You don’t suck.” 

“Thanks,” Sam ran his hand over her ass lightly, stealing a second quick kiss before they separated into their teams.

Dean racked up the balls. 

“Lily and I will break.” Lana said, winking at her friend. Lily was an okay pool player but her height and short arms made it difficult. On the other hand, Sam’s extra large limbs also put him at a disadvantage. Truly, this would come down to Lana versus Dean. Lana was still on a high from Lily beating Dean at quarters, and she turned to Lily as Dean finished up racking the balls for the game. “You can break. Stripes are lucky for me, but we’ll win either way.”

Lily laughed. “No pressure then, or anything.”

Lana smiled at her and waved it off. “We have this in the bag.”

Dean scoffed at Lana’s vote of confidence, but he really did wonder how this was going to go because he really did believe that Lily was better at pool than Sam. Hell, Dean was proud of his brother for a lot because Sam was better than Dean at a lot, but in pool, Dean was definitely superior. In this situation, the teams seemed uneven just because Dean knew how good Lana was and he was definitely tired of losing.

Lily decided not to think about it too much, and lined up her shot, smiling when the cue ball connected with the triangle of balls down the felt and a ball fell into the opposite corner pocket from her. She smiled when Lana clapped because it was a striped ball, and then she gave a little nod. Alright, so they had also started this off in their favor, and she was glad for it. Perhaps part of it was vindication because of Dean’s attitude lately, but she also really needed this kind of win. Her next shot didn’t go as planned, but that was okay because they were still in the lead.

“I’m next,” Dean announced, Sam just nodding at him.

He really wanted to get the upper hand back, just in case Lana decided to run the table: something he had definitely seen her do in the past when they were working together. Lana and Dean had hustled pool for money for the group before, and it was that worry that had him focused on what he was doing. He sunk in one ball, then two, and then three, lining up the fourth as Sam sipped his beer, trying not to smirk when Dean’s shot bounced off the corner of the pocket and didn’t go in.

“Nice try, Slick,” Lana told him with a competitive smile. “You tried. You really, really tried.”

Dean sighed and shook his head. “I swear to God…”

“What? Should I not run the table?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows. “Darling, I’m not that cocky...not yet.”

“But you were good at geometry,” Dean shook his head.

Lana just laughed and took her turn, getting hers and Lily’s score up to five balls in before she missed her shot and it was Sam’s turn to play.

“Don’t suck,” Dean told his brother again, shaking his head. “Just don’t suck.”

Lily shot him a look. “Thank you for the vote of confidence in your partner!”

Sam smiled when Lily stood up for him, and he got two balls in before his turn was over, much to Dean’s pleasure. That meant that the game was now all tied up and it was Lily’s turn to play. As long as Dean could distract her somehow, then he could easily get two balls in and take a win finally.

“Try not to choke, Munchkin,” Dean smiled, making eye contact with Lily when she gave him a look. “I’m just saying.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “I think you’re the one that’s choking. You’re so nervous that you’re not even paying full attention to what’s been happening around you.”

Dean had no idea what that meant, but his smile disappeared and Lily made her shot, which meant she and Lana had one ball left before the eight ball. That was unsettling, but so was whatever the meaning behind Lily’s statement had been, and Dean practically let out a breath he hadn’t known that he had been holding in when Lily missed her next shot and it was his turn. Whatever she had meant, it didn’t matter anymore, because the game was completely his and it made him grin and rub his hands together excitedly.

“What are you? A fairy tale villain?” Sam asked his brother, laughing and shaking his head.

“No, just a  _ winner _ ,” Dean stressed, lining up his shot.

As he started saying something about how it was so sad it had come down to this, a rather attractive brunette came over to Lana and complimented her, Dean looking up abruptly as he made his shot, the power on the shot off and the angle wrong, causing him to miss. He was already in the dog house with her for a while, and he wasn’t about to let some random cute guy come and swoop in, even if he was a little pissed at himself for missing an easy shot.

“My girl knows she’s great, thanks,” Dean spoke up as Lana smiled at the random guy, walking over to the pair and giving a nod. “It’s also her turn so...bye…”

Lana laughed gently as the guy left them all alone with his hands up in the air, Lily’s hand covering her face so nothing was given away. Dean guided Lana up to the table again by placing his hand on the small of her back, and then caught the look on her face. No. Had that...was that what Lily had been talking about?

“It’s so sweet that you’re willing to lose to defend my honor,” Lana cooed, but she was all business as she lined up her shot and finished the game off, her and Lily winning.

Dean gaped at her. “That’s not even fair!”

“All is fair in pool, but if you’d like a rematch, I’m completely here for it,” Lana replied, her fingers finding the belt loops in the front of Dean’s jeans and tugging him in closer to her. “I didn’t  _ need _ a distraction for you to win, I just enjoy seeing you tell other guys to leave me alone.”

“When did you even have time to flag him down?” Dean asked her incredulously.

Lana shrugged. “I caught his eye during Sam’s turn and he just so happens to be a family friend and a fellow hunter, so I had his number in my phone. You were so distracted by your nervousness of how Sam played the game, that you didn’t notice me text him to come over, or text Lily so she knew the plan. You’re a bonehead sometimes.”

“And you’re mean,” Dean responded, but he stole a kiss. “I want a rematch.”

“Sure, baby, but you’re still going to lose,” Lana told him as she pulled back.

Dean scoffed and shook his head. “Nope, because I’m taking Munchkin this time and you can have Sasquatch.”

“Thanks,” Sam told him with a shake of his head.

“I mean if you don’t care if Sam and I beat you, then that’s fine,” Lana laughed, tilting her head. “Sam hasn’t watched me run a pool table yet. Maybe I should actually try and show him.”

It was clear that Lana and Dean had completely retreated into their usual competitiveness, and while Lily wasn’t thrilled to be on Dean’s team, she just wanted to see Dean lose. So instead, she piped up and suggested that they just play each other. Then Dean could really see which of them was the best.

Dean loved that idea: he also insisted on going first.

Sam was excited just to see what all the fuss about Lana hustling pool was to begin with, because what he’d just seen was a great player who was also a team player. She let Lily have ample turns, while Dean had forced Sam to go second because he had wanted to make as many power plays as possible. Now, he got to watch as Dean did the break, sunk in a solid ball, and then sunk in two more before he biffed. Then Lana smirked and shot a wink over in Sam’s and Lily’s direction before she did what she had promised, which was to run the table.

She made every single shot that she lined up, even when Dean tried to distract her from doing just that. With a confident smile when she sank the eight ball and ended the game, she tilted her head at Dean and Lily cheered. It was just fun to see him lose, and Dean was pouting as well as having to admit to himself that his girl was incredibly hot dominating the game like that.

“This stinks. Let’s just watch them do karaoke,” Dean puffed out.

Sam had to admit he was enjoying himself more than he thought he would. Everyone loosened up (even Dean who was the world’s sorest loser) and because of a few drinks, for a moment, hunting didn’t exist. They were four friends, a close-knit group out for a normal night out. 

His attention returned to the karaoke set up. Lana and Lily had just taken a shot together with their arms linked like it really was college all over again. He glanced over at Dean as he slid back into their booth with a fresh beer in hand, “Oh, come on Dean it’s not that bad.” 

“Drink your beer,” Dean snapped, looking to the girls as a melody started over the speaker. Sam only laughed as the girls started into a rousing rendition of Queen’s “Somebody to Love.” (Lana got to pick first). 

After a verse or two Dean glanced at Sam, “Girls can sing,” he muttered. Truthfully, he had no idea. Other than lightly singing along to the music every once and a while he had never really heard either girl sing. 

“Yeah,” Sam replied with a chuckle. He knew Lily could sing but truthfully he’d forgotten. Their hunting lives really put a damper on the little things. He swelled with pride and enjoyed their well sung but slightly silly rendition of Queen. When it finished, the boys hooped and hollered along with everyone else in the bar who had enjoyed the fresh faces and good vocals. 

“Encore! Encore!” a table of men across the way banged against their tables. 

Dean looked over dangerously. 

“Down boy,” Sam told him. It was harmless and the girls deserved attention from people that weren’t them for a change — so long as it didn’t cross a line, of course. 

Dean sipped his beer with great purpose as the machine queued up the next song and “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls started. Sam chuckled and Dean groaned but despite the kitschy choice it still entertained the entire room and somehow the girls could handle Queen  _ and _ early 00’s pop. 

When that ended the room erupted and the girls stepped down from the stage, passing off the mics for a drink break. An older couple took their places and Sam and Dean tuned right back out.

“Impressive,” Sam told Lana before he pulled Lily into him and kissed her. Her lips tasted like tequila but she giggled and slipped into his lap before reaching for her cocktail left on the table, “We think we’re going to do Grease next.” 

“Grease?” Dean asked in displeasure as Lana forced him to scoot into the booth and she stole a fry from a forgotten basket, “Oh c’mon, babe. You’re basically Danny Zuko… so unless you’re going to get up there with me…” 

“Not a chance,” Dean replied quickly. Dean could sing as well, Sam was really the only one that lacked a talented pitch but Dean wasn’t much of a karaoke guy. He’d sing in his car and that was it. 

“Then you’ll listen, you’ll love it, and you’ll clap for us,” Lana replied, eating her fry to annunciate her point. 

“You’re just lucky they don’t have any Katy Perry,” Lily piped up, “We were gonna do “I Kissed a Girl” but nope,” Lily stole a fry as well. 

“Well that—“ Dean started but Lana looked at him and he stopped mid-sentence, “Okay…” he mumbled. He was still sore about losing but he was loose enough from all of the whiskey he’d been forced to shoot and the beers he had on top of that to still enjoy the times around them. Tomorrow might be a different story. 

“For the girls,” a server came by to drop two shots off at the table, “From the boys in the back,” she nodded. 

Lana smiled, she took the shot glass and held it up their way before shooting it. Lily squealed and took hers as well. However, shots were probably not the best idea for her anymore. It had been a long time since she’d been out drinking and she was small. 

“Those jocks are asking for it,” Dean grumbled, sipping his beer.

“Oh c’mon babe… we’ll just take their money. You know I’m going home with you,” Lana placed her hand on either side of his face and kissed him, “Now move, Lily and I are up again!” Lana did not wait for Dean to move. She slid over his lap and out of the booth. 

Lily wavered as she stood up from her spot with Sam and weaved her way to the stage to accept her microphone again. 

Dean couldn’t help but laugh as he noticed Lily’s funny walk, “Munchkin’s  _ toasted _ .” 

Sam shrugged. Dean wasn’t wrong but Lily deserved to have fun, “She’ll be fine.” 

“Not tomorrow,” he chuckled as his attention turned back to the girls for their third song. The room was electric — these girls got everyone to sing along and hang on their every word. 

By the time their song was over, the room erupted and even Sam and Dean hooped and hollered more than before. Lana and Lily exited the stage but upon her descent Lily stumbled and ended up on her ass. Both Lana and Lily burst into fits of laughter as Lana struggled to help Lily up. Lana could hold her liquor but she’d had enough to drink that she wasn’t the best help. 

“I got her,” Sam appeared like the valiant man he was to help Lily stand with ease. She leaned against him for support. Her face was flush but she was obviously happy, “What’d you think?” she asked. 

“I think you and Lana could have very successful karaoke careers,” he teased her, helping her back to the table. He handed her a glass of water. She took the drink but when she tasted the contents her face screwed up in displeasure and she pushed it across the table, “None of that weak juice.”

“Oh boy,” Sam muttered.  _ That _ she got from Dean.

Dean laughed, proud he had some effect on Lily, as Lana came to reclaim her place next to him, “Are you still mad I kicked your ass?” She asked him, her hand running up his thigh. She’d had enough to drink that she was feeling — in a mood. 

“Mad? I’m not mad. Ready for a rematch, sure,” he told her, unable to ignore where her hand was wandering against his jeans, “Woah…” he said — half surprised and half into it. Lana could get handsy when she was drunk — not that he minded. 

“Mm…not tonight, I have other things in mind,” She said of his rematch. However, she left it at that as she greedily ate a chicken tender. Dean took a sip of his beer to keep his mind off of what Lana had stirred up with her teasing.

“She means sex.” Lily said blatantly.

Lana couldn’t help but wiggle her eyebrows at Dean and nod, and he smirked because he could tell that that was what she meant. She was very clearly looking for something, and she was in a very pleasant mood. He couldn’t say that he minded either, because he had screwed so much up and now things felt like they were back to their normal. It was just them getting to enjoy down time before the next hunt.

Their parents had been informed already that they would be leaving here soon, and Florence had checked in and said that Annie was fine, and John said he was okay. There was absolutely nothing to worry about but drunk girlfriends, and compared to everything else, he and Sam could handle that no problem.

“In fact…” Lana managed slowly, “...I bet the bathroom’s free.”

Sam made a face. “She’s had enough.”

At the same time, he did think it was kind of hilarious that she was so obvious in front of them all, when usually she was the one that was more subtle. Dean was a little flushed and that could be all the alcohol, but the corner of his lips lifted up into another smirk and Sam knew what was coming before it happened.

“I bet I’ll get there first,” Dean challenged as he got out of the booth.

Lana smiled at him. “Oh no you don’t!”

Lily erupted into laughter as a couple more shots were set down in front of them from more male patrons, but Dean and Lana were trying to race to the bathroom and Sam smiled but shook his head.

“You have had one shot too many,” Sam said gently, but Lily had already slung one more back.

She beamed at him. “They’re for a job  _ very _ well done. You know...there are  _ two _ bathrooms in this place...”

For a moment, it didn’t click for Sam just what his girlfriend was suggesting, but then he noticed the look in her eyes and he couldn’t say he wasn’t interested. They were all enjoying themselves, and yet something about shutting down the other bathroom didn’t make that much sense in his mind. He was the most sober of the bunch, and Sam didn’t want to just copy his brother, or perhaps accidentally overhear him either.

“There’s also the car, and I have the keys,” Sam suggested, nodding when Lily’s eyes lit up.

**Bar - Women’s Bathroom  
** “This is a more dangerous place than the men’s room,” Dean had managed in between kisses as they made it into the bathroom.

It was small with only three stalls, and surprisingly no one was in there even though the women’s restroom was a far busier place than the men’s.

“Yes, but men are dirtier,” Lana laughed, closing the door behind them and locking it.

They’d get in trouble for this, she knew it, but a quickie in a bar bathroom was too fun to pass up, her lips connecting with Dean’s again as he maneuvered them over to the counter. Hoisting her up, he set her on it, wiggling his eyebrows again as her hands wandered down into his jean pockets. He was going to say something cheeky until she looked a little distraught at her lack of finding what she was looking for. That almost made him think the moment was over, but he was just as turned on as before when she pouted at him. Okay, perhaps he was  _ more _ turned on when she pouted like that.

“Usually you’ve got the condom,” she explained, her legs still wrapping around him. “I forgot, so we’re shit out of luck baby. I’m sorry.”

Dean sucked in a breath when her arms slipped around his shoulders, her fingers threading through his hair. He was already revved up, they were already locked in here, and he just wanted to have a little fun with his girl before they returned to the booth and the night eventually ended. She was pressing gentle kisses to his temple and his jaw too, like she was trying to apologize, and Dean made his drunken-not-thinking-clearly mind up and gave her hips a squeeze before he was speaking.

“It’s fine,” he told her, lips finding hers in a longing kiss. “We’re fine…”

That seemed to be his mantra these days, but in this situation it was reckless and they shouldn’t, but his lips trailed to her neck and her question of, ‘are you sure?’, got lost in a breathless moan when he nipped at her throat. If he thought they were fine then they were fine, and when they locked eyes and she saw all that love in his eyes as he nodded, she nodded back and her fingers went on the move to unfasten his pants.

**Bar - Parking Lot  
** Once they’d gotten out of the bar, Sam had picked Lily up and she had immediately wrapped her legs around him, pressing kisses to his neck as he carried her to the car. She loved how secure she felt in those strong arms of his, and Sam had to admit that the more she kissed his neck, the less likely he was going to be able to control himself. No matter how many times they did this, Sam was always thoroughly excited, and since there was a trickle of people outside, they were going to have to do this in the back seat and not on the hood.

Hey, either one worked.

“You’re so tall,” Lily mused with a giggle, nipping at his chin. “You know I love you, right?”

Sam nodded and turned his head to plant a kiss to her mouth. “I know, and I love you too.”

After sharing a smile, Sam stole one more kiss and then unlocked the car, only putting Lily down on her feet so that he could scoot the passenger seat up. Maybe a drunken Lana would be more willing to sell them out when she got back in the car and her seat was in a different place, but she was less likely to make a big deal than Dean. That’s why whenever this happened, Sam  _ never _ moved the driver’s seat.

Getting into the backseat, Sam smiled when Lily crawled in on top of him, taking a couple of tries to close the door behind her, but she managed. Sam laughed when she muttered what sounded like a swear and then squealed, her lips making contact with his with a warm hum. This was the kind of fun that they had been honestly missing for a bit, and he could taste the tequila on her tongue, making a noise of protest when she pulled back.

The groan was replaced with a gentle sigh, however, when Lily took the moment to tug her shirt off, her cheeks flushed from alcohol and excitement. They went another shade redder when Sam breathed out that she was beautiful--somehow that never got old, and she never got truly used to it, and she was glad.

“I am insanely lucky,” Sam managed to say before Lily was kissing him again.

The kisses were passionate and laughs trickled out as they tried to find the most comfortable position, Sam actually prepared for spontaneous sex tonight, where Dean had not been. Perhaps he really was just the most sensible, but he also was the least drunk of all of them. He’d only had a couple of beers, whereas everyone else had really been thoroughly enjoying themselves, and he smiled as he held Lily close, letting himself get lost in her and in the moment of it all.

**Bar - Back at the Booth  
** After thoroughly enjoying themselves, the couples had made it back to the booth, Lana insisting that they all have some water so that the hangovers tomorrow wouldn’t be as bad, and she also ordered nachos. She didn’t normally eat this much, or any of this stuff, but it was clear she was just trying to have a little fun. None of their guards should have been down, but they weren’t thinking about that.

“You look flushed,” Lana told Lily with a cheeky nod. “Did you enjoy your climb up the beanstalk, Jack?”

Lily’s jaw dropped. “Lana! But yes...yes, I very much did.”

“Good,” Lana winked before she laughed when she saw the look on Sam’s face. “That isn’t even the worst thing you’ve ever heard. Dean is worse.”

“You two were made for each other,” Sam chuckled before shaking his head. “Are those more shots?”

“We wanted them,” Lily protested as she reached for one. “Tequila is good.”

Dean laughed and nodded in agreement. “Besides, we’re here for  _ fun _ . If Bossy over here is gonna make us drink water, we gotta chase it with shots.”

“That’s not how it works,” Sam and Lana said together, but Lana was also reaching for a shot.

Sam was probably going to have to carry all three of them out of here, but at least Lana was being good about drinking water. Perhaps that was how she handled her hangovers so well, because he’d seen her drunk and hungover, but he had yet to see the poor girl puke. Not that he wanted to, but he wondered who taught her the water trick in the first place, or maybe it was the demon blood letting her handle negative side effects better. Either way, he’d ask her tomorrow when she was a little more sober and lying on the floor.

Lana liked to live on the floor after a night of fun like this.

“Weak juice,” both Dean and Lily said at the same time. Sam was glad Lily and Dean had bonded like they did — but he did wish Dean would remember sometimes that she was less than half his size and weight and could not hold liquor like he could, so to go easy on talking her out of drinking water when she drank. However, Sam was pretty sure it was too late. The damage was done. 

“You two are ridiculous,” Lana said in the most annoyed and loving way. Lana was always very good at toting the line; the love of her life was Dean Winchester…so it was a state of mind. 

“No! He’s ridiculous,” Lily pointed, her words beginning to slur together, “I’m cute.” 

Sam laughed, his arm braced around her shoulders. He kissed her temple, “Of course you are.” 

“I never said you weren’t…!” Lana defended with a point of her finger back to Lily, “You can be cute and ridiculous.” 

“Mm-mm, no,” Lily shook her head, “Cute people don’t pretend they don’t love their girlfriend or want their family around…” 

Lily’s drunken buzz had taken a downturn at the return of her sore feelings for what Dean had done on John’s arrival. 

“I told you, Munchkin: we made up. I can promise you after what we just did in that bathroom things are  _ good _ ….” he winked. Lana hit his arm. Only she could tell Lily what they did together — and that was usually via text. 

“’s not just Lana… Me too,” Lily said. Sam threw Dean a ‘tread carefully’ look but attempted to curb the mood-killing subject, “Are you sure you want to—“ he started, brushing his lips against her ear but Dean returned, “You too? What are you talking about?” 

“You changed when your Dad came. You didn’t want to associate with me anymore — and not like that time you wanted to get laid and all those girls thought we were together…” Lily explained.

Lana looked at Dean, “ _ All those girls? _ ” she asked. Of course Lily was referring to a night long before Lana had joined them but the subject was still of great interest, “I will have to hear this story.”

“Nah, nothing to tell,” Dean tried to brush it off: it hadn’t been one of his finest nights but despite this his attention remained on Lily, “I was busy - distracted. There’s a difference.” 

“Don’t lie!” Lily accused. Her defenses were down thanks to the many shots of tequila served to her tonight so her eyes began to get misty, “You forget I can feel things too. I could feel it.” 

Dean was at a loss. He took a long swig of his beer so he wouldn’t have to answer for something he honestly hadn’t even realized he had done. He had been so focused on his Dad and his fears of his and Lana’s relationship that he did not notice he’d also put up a wall between him and Lily — who was another point of contention with his Dad. 

“Maybe we should cash out,” Sam said, knowing this was a good time to take Lily home. He knew Lana and Dean could chose to stay if they wanted but he could read Lily well enough — she was past the point of no return. He looked to Lana for help. 

“Yeah, hey,” Lana nudged Dean, “Go cash us out.”

“Me?!” Dean asked. 

“You’re the one with the cash,” Lana pressed. Sure, she had some of her own of course but since he was in Lily’s sights it was best Dean was the one to pop off for a second or two. 

“Fine,” Dean grumbled, sliding out of the booth and sauntering up to the bar. Despite the tension, Lana couldn’t help but watch his fine ass walk as he went. She could never really get over how great his ass looked in his jeans. 

“Did I ruin the party?” Lily asked now that Dean was gone, she looked between Sam and Lana. Lana gave her a big smile, “No,” she shook her head, “We have to cash out because if I eat anymore I’ll have to run all the way to our next location.” 

Lily laughed, a few tears had escaped down her face. She was a mess but they wouldn’t have her any other way. 

“Alright, let’s get out of here before I have to carry Dean out too,” Sam teased as he slid from the booth. Lily followed, “You don’t have to carry me, I’m fine,” she said surely. Although she would not pass a drunk drivers test, she weaved her way to the door like a snake, Lily surprisingly made it to the car with minimal issues. 

“Take shotgun,” Lana told her, opening the backseat, “Probably best if Sam drives — if Dean’s coordination in the bathroom was any indication,” she winked. 

“Always with the oversharing—“ Sam shook his head with a soft laugh as the three climbed into the car. Dean was the last one out. He begrudgingly slipped into the backseat, “I’m not that drunk, dude,” he told his brother who started the engine. 

“Pretty sure you shouldn’t be drunk at all behind the wheel,” Sam returned as he drove them from the bar back to Lana’s house. 

“Oh you say that now,” Dean replied. There had been many nights of questionable driving but Dean always prided himself on his ability to drive whether that be sober, after a nasty fight with a monster, or after a night of drinking. 

The car went quiet. The night had been a rousing success. They wouldn’t get another one for a long time and they could all feel it as a heavy pall on the end of their fun. 

When Sam parked the Impala in Lana’s driveway, Lily had already fallen asleep (see: passed out). After returning the keys to Dean who was two steps to becoming combative over them, Sam pulled Lily from the car and carried her inside to their bedroom. He laid her on the bed and lovingly removed her shoes so he could tuck her into bed. 

**Lana’s Bedroom  
** Lana shut the door and although the room was spinning a little she was grateful to be there. She carelessly started stripping clothes off and tossing them to the floor. 

After removing his shirt, Dean paused and caught her eye, “What did Lily mean?”

“What are you talking about?” Lana asked with drunken-short-term-memory. She was focused on climbing into bed and feeling his warm skin against hers. 

“That she could feel it?” Dean replied, running his hands over his hair in thought. 

Lana sighed. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, “When you Dad showed up you shut out everything you thought he would disapprove of — and that included her. You know that ability of hers — the minute you did that it was like a door slamming in her face. Dean, she’s your family now… and you can’t just make it up to her with good public bathroom sex,” she teased, tossing away her bra before climbing onto the bed.

“…..yeah…” Dean fell into the memories of their tryst in the bathroom for a moment. He finally managed to throw aside his pants and crawl into the bed with his insanely hot girlfriend, “You know next time… I’m going to beat your ass at pool and I don’t want to hear any crying about it.”

Lana laughed, “Oh please! You know you can’t beat me…” she looked up at him, her eyes glinting with competitive fire and utter devotion. Even if they still had some healing to do — she loved this big dumb man. 

“We’ll see…” he smirked before stealing a kiss after her lips parted open in disagreement. The kiss which in turn led to an encore of the bathroom performance, however this time they were able to play it safe thanks to Lana’s nightstand drawer. 


	23. Readying For the Next Step

**The Next Morning  
** Lana had woken early. She was in no mood for a run after what she’d done to her body the night before but she was hankering for a big, tall glass of water and some toast. She slipped out of bed, leaving Dean snoring to an empty room, and after getting dressed, headed for the kitchen.

Sam was already there. He had prepped two glasses of water and was making toast and eggs already. 

“Good morning,” she said in slight surprise. She slipped into one of the table’s chairs so she could place her forehead squarely against the table to hold the weight of her head, “Why are you so normal looking?”

“I avoided shooting tequila,” Sam smirked as Lana groaned at the very word, “You’re doing better than Lily. She’s on the floor of the bathroom right now. She’ll need to put something in her stomach soon.”

“Poor kid,” Lana mumbled. She slipped from the chair and onto the floor to stare at the ceiling. She had no desire to puke but the residual spins were putting her off, “But those eggs smell really good, Sam.”

“Don’t worry, I’m making enough for everyone,” Sam smiled. When she opened her eyes again, Sam was standing over her, handing down a glass of water.

“Thanks,” Lana muttered, accepting the hydration.

She sat up slowly to drink the water, wondering how Dean was faring. He’d had far more alcohol than the rest of them, but he was used to this. He did this more than they did, but that didn’t mean that he had a stomach of steel. Depending on what it was that he had the night before, he was either in the bathroom, or he was borderline normal, which was odd, but Lana just drank the water and then laid back down on the floor.

“While that was fun, let's shelve it for a couple months before we repeat it,” Lana mused to Sam who was still getting breakfast ready.

Sam chuckled at that. “I mean, I’m not the one dating Dean.”

“No, you’re not,” Lana laughed, closing her eyes to reset the room, “but contrary to popular belief, he can be incredibly calm. He isn’t always drunken pool games and...no, he’s always stolen, handsy moments, but the first part,” she smiled.

“Only because you’re not. If it was any other girl, he wouldn’t be this good, but he fell for  _ you _ ,” Sam reminded her before he shrugged. “I’ve never seen him hold on so tightly. I mean I get it--you’re a hunter too--but Dean and girls have been…”

He whistled after he said it and Lana nodded, knowing perfectly well how Dean Winchester operated--or at least how he  _ used _ to operate. Once upon a time he was a little more invested in relationships and in trying to have normal things, but then they kept moving and moving, and everything changed. Dean realized that there was no reason to get attached when nothing ever lasted, and he went from girl to girl, still craving some sort of affection and intimacy, even if it was based on lies.

Now, Dean had something that was  _ consistent _ , and moved  _ with _ him, and he didn’t have to worry about lying to her or having to explain what he did. Lana was deeper into all of this than he was, but she could give him the attention and affection and intimacy that he craved on a normal basis and that was why things seemed so intense sometimes. Dean wasn’t used to having something on a day to day basis he could call his own--at least when it came to a person. Sure, he had his gun, and his car even though it had been John’s until he gave it to him, and he had his leather jacket, etc., but at the moment, he had a whole entire family and a girlfriend that loved and appreciated and supported him, and he did the same back.

He just also had to get better at that.

“Well, you’re all stuck with me for the long haul,” Lana smiled, opening up her eyes and then pulling herself back up to stand. “I’m going to go and wake my caveman up and see if I can’t get him to come and eat some breakfast.”

Sam nodded as he started to set the table. “And I will go and get Lily.”

After getting herself to head back to her room, she crawled onto the bed and straddled Dean carefully, planting a hand on either side of his face and leaning down to kiss him. Each gentle kiss she placed to his lips made him smile a little as he roused from sleep, Lana let out a little squeal when he wrapped his arms around her and he flipped them over so she was underneath him.

She had not expected that, but she laughed as he kissed her, a hand cupping her face as she stroked his hair. This was a nice, soft moment, but when he started to press longer kisses to her jaw and then her neck, she had to protest. She didn’t want to, but Sam had gone to all that trouble to make them breakfast, and they needed to come up for air at some point and just be.

“Sammy made us eggs,” Lana pointed out, resting her hand on his chest when he pulled back to look down at her. “You’ve got to get up and put pants on and come and eat. I promised I’d drag you back out.”

Dean sighed playfully and stole a kiss. “You’re a buzzkill.”

“I am,” Lana laughed and sat up a little on her elbows. “So...move your butt.”

Rolling out of his grasp, she found her footing on the floor even though she had to pause for a moment as the room momentarily spun. Dean got up to put clothes on and she headed back to the kitchen, shaking her head as she got downstairs and sat down, Sam carrying Lily out.

“I should start paying you to carry me too. Lord knows your brother won’t do it,” Lana teased, smiling when Lily was placed right next to her. “How are you doing??”

Lily laid her head on the island counter. “I’ve been better.”

“So have I,” Lana agreed with a nod, laying her head down too and looking at her. “You look good this morning considering all the shots we had last night. Though I think you beat me on that. I don’t remember having as many as you and Dean.”

“Because you’re lame and you drink water,” Dean responded as he groaned at the bright light coming in through the kitchen window. “Has the sun always been that bright?”

Sam laughed and shook his head at the three of them. “Yes. Every day, it is that bright.”

Lana and Lily smiled a little before Dean had to excuse himself to the bathroom, and Lana snapped her fingers. Lily cringed at the sound because it was too close to her ears, and Lana apologized quickly, but then continued to say the thought that she was thinking.

“This is why we drink water,” Lana told her. “Less likely to actually puke.”

“Water is weak,” Lily replied, but she managed another smile as she lifted her head and placed her arms on the table. “I was promised food.”

Placing plates on the island counter and letting them all sit on the stools, Sam pushed them slowly to Lana and Lily first, then to Dean when he made his way out of the bathroom. He looked like he had some circles under his eyes, but he was ready for food too. Sam had also made them coffee, hoping it would help, Lana practically attacking the cup because she wanted the caffeine.

“I either gotta run more or have more sex if we’re going to do this often,” Lana murmured into her coffee cup.

Sam laughed and shook his head. “You don’t need more sex.”

“Speak for yourself,” Dean replied with a mouth full of egg. “If that’s what she needs, I am more than happy to help.”

“I’m going to puke again. No thank you,” Lily told him, waving her hand. “I don’t need to know as much as I do about your sex life. Hers is okay, but you hush.”

Dean made a face as Lana laughed. “It’s the same sex life!”

“It’s different though. Like...I prefer hearing it from Lily too. It’s like girl talk,” Lana explained.

“I don’t wanna hear about any of it,” Sam explained, but he was smiling. “How did you three manage this?”

Dean was grinning now. “Come on, I’m the master of hangovers.”

“I’m pretty sure that time in Jacksonville says otherwise,” Sam returned. 

“I have to hear this,” Lana said certainly, still clinging to her coffee as her life force.

Sam laughed but Dean (with a mouthful of eggs) replied, “We can skip it. Not that interesting.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Lana replied.

Lily, who’s head rested against her arm on the counter, had taken to shoveling eggs to the edge of her plate with a fork and then into her mouth, barely lifting the fork or her head to take a bite. Lana reached out and rubbed her back gently, knowing that in the future she would have to change Lily’s mind about water and undo all the damage Dean had done before her arrival. 

“We’re not leaving today are we?” Lily asked, not desiring to be cooped up in the car and knowing if she had to throw up Dean would prefer it be in a different county from his baby. 

“I think we can stick around one more day,” Sam offered, leaning onto the counter against his forearms, “Waiting on Dad to send us coordinates from his first stop and I figure we go in the opposite direction? Try to catch a case as this whole thing comes together,” he let out a sigh. He wasn’t as good at planning these things as Dean and his Dad were but as far as he understood it — they were nearing something big but they just weren’t there yet. 

“Good. Could use a case. Don’t wanna get rusty,” Dean said, still shoveling food into his mouth like he’d never eaten before. 

“I don’t think resting for two or three days makes you rusty,” Lana returned, knowing her man was itching for a case and ways to avoid dealing with any semblance of a domestic life. But she couldn’t quite blame him — it was all he knew and she was here to help him see another side, “I mean if we don’t have sex for a few days do you think you’re not good anymore?” 

Both Sam and Lily groaned at the return of Lana and Dean’s sex life. 

Dean became defensive, “No,” he said quickly but it helped prove Lana’s point and she smirked, “Exactly. See?” 

Dean busied himself with food, not desiring to let the smug girl become any more smug. 

**LATER  
** A knock sounded at the guest room door and Sam muttered a “come in” from his place at his computer.

“Albuquerque.” Dean said. John had sent the coordinates and they lead to ABQ, NM. Sam took a moment to process this but nodded, “Alright…” 

“Thinking we head east tomorrow,” Dean offered, “Boston… Philly… Portland…” he listed, “Been a while since we’ve been up that way.” And with how old some of the cities on the eastern seaboard were — there was not usually a shortage of cases to work. A beat, “Where’s shortstack?” 

“Shower,” Sam replied, closing his laptop for a minute, “She’ll feel a lot better.”

“Good, because there will not be any puking in my car!” Dean said as he retreated from the guest room back in search of Lana to confirm their plans.

“Hey — close the—“ Sam started with a disgruntled sigh. He stood from his seat at the small desk and shut the darn door himself. 

**Other Side of the House  
** “Sam agrees, Eastern Seaboard it is,” Dean informed Lana. He was repressing the facts that Lana and Lily were to be guardians of the colt — he could avoid this fact since he would be with Lana every step of the way. 

“Cool. Hey, maybe we should stop by Salem — see some…” Lana started, looking up from her toe nail polishing but Dean held up his hand, “I swear if you say  _ witches _ ….” he warned. 

“I was  _ going _ to say Hocus Pocus and that is not the same,” Lana finished. Dean had literally no idea what she was talking about so he let it pass, “Sam thinks we could leave tomorrow and I agree.” He took a seat on the bed near her spot on the floor. 

“Yeah. Honestly if we stay here too much longer I’ll get too comfortable and suddenly we’ll be mowing the lawn and going to the neighbor’s kid’s bar mitzvah.” 

Dean chuckled, “Do they serve alcohol at those things?” 

Lana paused, “I have no idea,” she admitted causing them both to laugh. Because kids or no kids, domesticity or no — no children’s event was complete without a little something for the adults to take the edge off. 

“So where is it?” Dean asked. 

“Where is what?” Lana asked with laser focus as she attempted to paint her pinky toe.

“You know what,” Dean returned. The Colt. He didn’t like being so out of touch with it. It was too important.

“Safe,” Lana replied, blowing on the fresh paint. 

“Lana…”

“Dean,” Lana glanced back at him, “I think it’s better if you know as little as possible. It’s safe. It’s with us… and I’m with you, okay? Trust me.” she said. 

Dean let out a long sigh. He didn’t like it. His chest felt tight and he had that familiar electric charge that usually preceded his need to fight for what he wanted but with that look in her eye and his respect for her he took a moment and sighed, “Yeah, okay.”

Lana was stunned but it gave her the butterflies-in-the-belly feeling nonetheless. It was hard to back Dean down from anything once his mind was set but he was allowing himself to trust her. 

“C’mere…” she said, motioning that she was in great need of a kiss. Dean was only happy to oblige and take the distraction. 

**Guest Room  
** Lily was becoming human again and Sam filled her in on their next adventure. Lily, in her towel, dripped onto the carpet as she hoisted her duffle on the end of the bed where Sam sat casually waiting for her to be done. 

“Oooo, maybe we could go to Salem,” Lily said as he explained the route. 

Sam chuckled, “Do you think Dean is going to make a stop so we can be tourists among witches?” he asked, folding his arms behind his head as he leaned back against the headboard. 

“Well not when you say it like that,” Lily replied, sorting through her duffle to get dressed again, “God I need new clothes.” 

“Why? I think your clothes look good,” Sam said — a true dude.

Lily gave him a look and then held up one of her t-shirts by sticking her index finger through a hole on the side, “This job isn’t exactly super conducive to long-lasting fashion.” 

“True,” Sam sighed. However, he and Dean usually just grabbed a sturdy pair of jeans and some sort of hearty button down and it always did them well. He realized then he had little idea how this would all work for a woman — how had Lana handled it all those years? Even with Lily at his side now for some time, it’s not something that ever took the main focus. However, he did have several convenience store runs for period cravings and tampons, “Maybe Lana has some advice? Maybe there’s a place around here to go before we take off?” he suggested.

Lily smirked, “Did you just tell me Lana and I should go shopping?” 

Sam took a beat, “Well when you say it like that…” but he couldn’t help but laugh. He stood up so he could pull her small frame against his, “I think you two need something normal and if you can use Dean’s credit card to do it? All the better…” he leaned in and planted a kiss against her smiling lips. 

“I love you, did you know that?” Lily asked, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck. 

“Vaguely,” he said, teasing. This house let them live in the moment — light, fun, loving. No fear that just around the corner something was lurking to take her away from him. However, that feeling always returned when they put this house in their rearview and he was back to worry central 24/7.

That was just how the boys operated in general, back to their old ways once the hunt was the main focus, but Sam preferred domesticity. Yes, he was enjoying getting to be closer to Dean, and he was glad he’d finally met Lana face to face like this, but if he could just settle in one place for a while and just live life with Lily, he’d feel a lot better about everything. Lana wouldn’t even mind getting to stay longer, but she was used to juggling all of this.

“I love you too,” Sam promised before he stole a kiss.

**That Evening  
** Needing to get her mind off of things, Lana had taken to cooking. She even went so far as to pull out an old recipe book, and while Sam and Dean had a beer out back together, Lily was helping her cut vegetables and keep an eye on the pot of water. It was something they could do together: make dinner.

“Being here is probably the most normal thing we ever do,” Lily mused, smiling when Lana laughed.

“I mean, you’re not wrong,” Lana replied before she added some spices to the sauce she was making. “I don’t know, sometimes I forget that the boys had things a lot rougher than I did. Mom wanted Annie and I to have as normal a life as possible, just  _ knowing _ that there were things out there to fight. I mean, she grew up in this and maybe that was why she didn’t do it the same.”

Lily nodded slowly. “It’s not a good life for kids, moving them from place to place.”

“I don’t disagree with you there. At least Sam had Stanford and you at the end of things,” Lana smiled as she stirred the sauce and then held out the spoon for Lily to taste. “It’s hot so blow on it.”

Honestly, not only was Lana the motherly one when it came to hunting, but things like this in the kitchen also brought out parts of her that they didn’t get to see otherwise. Here she was, half demon, with demonic powers she tried not to use to remind everyone that she was in fact half demon, and she was in the kitchen cooking dinner. It was amusing to say the least.

Letting out a laugh, Lily blew on it and then tasted it. “It’s really good.”

“It doesn’t need more garlic?” Lana asked her with a look on her face.

“Lana, I saw how many cloves you put in--no,” Lily laughed, shaking her head.

Resigning herself to nodding, Lana took a breath. “Okay, but you know, you can never have too much garlic in something. It’s a good seasoning!”

“Yes you can!” Lily protested playfully.

**Out Back  
** The laughter from the kitchen could be heard out on the back porch, and Sam couldn’t help but smile at it. He loved that things were carefree and easy like this, and a part of him wished it could stay that way. Even Dean enjoyed that there was a place that they could go that was familiar and inviting, and he glanced at Sam as Sam glanced in through the kitchen window. With a smile, he drank some of his beer and settled onto the porch.

“You miss it, don’t you?” Dean asked his brother with a nod.

Sam looked at him and took a breath. “Miss what?”

“Not having to hunt all the time,” Dean responded, nodding when Sam took a seat next to him on the back steps.

“It was easier not to worry about her,” Sam admitted with a shrug. “Every time we get ready for something else, I’m just reminded that instead of leaving danger behind, we go towards it.”

Dean just nodded again, wanting Sam to know that he was listening to him. He didn’t fully agree, but that was on him he supposed. This was just what he was used to, and what he was used to getting praised for. It was hard for Dean to admit that part of wanting to hunt all together was because he didn't want to be alone, but with this battle looming over them, he was worried that he was going to need to be more forthcoming with where he was. Especially if Sam was any indication to where  _ his _ head was at.

Dean glanced at his brother. "When the demon is dead...you two going back?"

Sam glanced at his brother too. "That was what I always thought in the back of my mind. Finish up school, get a house together--that was always our plan."

"But then I dragged you out," Dean said with a nod.

"Dean…" Sam shook his head. "I'm glad that you did. I'm glad that we've had this time together: the ups  _ and _ the downs, I just…"

Dean nodded and then shrugged. "I get it."

"Do you?" Sam countered, shaking his head a little. "Because it seems to me that you've got a good woman in there too. One that would never leave you on your own. I mean, when have you ever had something like this? Something  _ this _ constant? You two could figure something out."

In the back of his mind, Dean was afraid that Lana would leave too eventually. Get tired of him. It felt like everyone in his life left him and he was worried that he actually  _ did _ have something good. It wasn't jostling, however, because Dean didn't want to lose Sam or Lily either. Seeing them occasionally wasn't the same as seeing them all the time. Dean didn't want to let any of this go, and Sam could tell just by the silence between them.

"Tell your girlfriend that there is such a thing as too much garlic," Lily told them, having appeared in the back doorway.

Dean was happy for the interruption. "There is no such thing, Munchkin."

With that, Dean hopped up and headed into the kitchen with Lana, leaving Lily to feel as though she had stepped in something. Sam smiled a sad smile at her and it made her sit with him, Dean sticking his finger in the sauce and making a face when Lana smacked his hand.

"You can't just stick your finger in it!" Lana exclaimed, trying not to smile when Dean swooped in and planted a kiss on her neck. "You're cheating."

Dean chuckled and then shrugged, stealing a kiss from her lips. "I'll take it for you to not be mad."

"You are such a brat," Lana laughed, but she smiled. "Set the table. The tortellini is done.”

Dean helped Lana set the table, his stomach beginning to rumble at the thought of Lana’s home cooked meal. Between what Sam had to say and the smell of her food and the warmth of her company, there was something buried deep inside that did want this more often but he could hardly admit it — it was too risky. He had to stick to what he knew: saving people, hunting things with his family. 

When the last plate was set, Lana returned to the door to the patio to find Sam and Lily lightly making out in Sam’s chair, “Hey! Look, I’m sure she tastes good but so will this food if it doesn’t get cold!” she called, making them both laugh, “Dinner’s ready!”

They broke apart to join Lana and Dean in the dining room. 

“Smells great, Lana,” Sam complimented as he took his customary seat at the table. 

“I cut the veggies,” Lily announced proudly. She had never been much of a cook but bless her heart she tried. Lana let her take the role of sous chef and that worked just perfectly for her. 

“My favorite part,” Sam replied, throwing a wink to Lana who finally sat down at the head of the table after dropping a bowl of grated cheese near the steaming bowl of tortellini. 

“That’s why you’re a nerd,” Dean said simply as he took a big heaping spoonful of tortellini onto his plate. 

Sam gave him a look but he felt Lily’s hand on his thigh and decided to let his brother’s insult roll off. 

“Save some for the rest of us!” Lana scolded. However, she had anticipated Dean’s stomach and had made more than enough for everyone — she just liked telling him what to do and couldn’t help herself.

“They know to move quick or they don’t eat,” Dean smirked, motioning to Sam and Lily.

“It’s true,” Lily said. Despite the fact Dean and Lily often shared snacks or got hungry at the same time, when it came to family style meals — you take what you want because Dean will be back for thirds before your first plate is done. 

“Mm, well, we’ll see,” Lana smirked but she happily stabbed her fork into her pasta and took a big bite. Damn, she  _ was _ a good cook. 

No one at dinner seemed to mention what tomorrow had in store. Tomorrow they were leaving the sanctity of what seemed to be becoming  _ their _ home and they were back on the road. Back to cramped in the Impala together for hours on end, musty motel rooms, and unknown monsters lurking in the darkness. 

When dinner was done, everyone did their part to clean up. Dean might usually big a big child but everyone stepped up to make it as easy on Lana as possible. When that was done, the four congregated on the patio. Lana got the small fire pit lit and Dean dragged out the beer. 

“Really? A drink? After this morning?” Sam asked as he took his seat in one of the Adirondack chairs around the burgeoning fire. 

“It’s just beer, Sammy. Besides — I’m feeling great!” he smirked, taking his own seat. 

Lily immediately took her place on Sam’s lap, wrapping her arms around him, swinging her feet off of his lap, “That’s just really not fair.” she said. She was feeling way better than she had in the morning but in no world did a beer sound good. 

“Maybe if you get a little taller you can handle your liquor better,” Dean smirked, laughing at his own joke. Lana smacked his arm after she opened her own beer and slid into his lap leaving two chairs unoccupied. Why sit in a chair when there were two available Winchester boys? 

“By those odds, Dean I could drink you under the table,” Sam smirked, Lily kissing his cheek for sticking up for her challenged height. 

“Yeah, but you don’t have enough oxygen up there to say sober too long,” he smirked into his beer bottle. Lana just laughed. She’d get him later, karma was always out for Dean Winchester, “You better watch your mouth,” she said lowly. 

“Oooh.. or what?” Dean smirked, his eyes glinting. Lana just shook her head and sipped her beer as her answer.

“When’s the last time we had a fire that didn’t involve rock salt?” Sam mentioned after a moment of calm silence between the four. 

There was a long pause after his question, because no one could say. 

“Uh — I think never,” Dean gave a laugh making the rest of them laugh.

“Just sad I don’t have any marshmallows,” Lana said thoughtfully. 

“Mmm I wouldn’t say that,” Dean squeezed her ass making her squeal.

“You guys!” Lily exclaimed with a laugh.

“Oh come on, now. Don’t make me have Sammy do a hand check…” Dean returned although his attentions heavily remained on Lana. 

Sam looked at his brother incredulously. One hand held a beer at the other was clearly draped over Lily’s waist however Dean was too distracted to notice his folly. 

The four remained by the fire until it had dwindled to almost nothing. Warm and safe, Lily had fallen asleep. Lana had drifted off into her own thoughts, her mind always drifting back to the weight of the revolver in the folds of her things. It was their way out — but they had to get there first. There were no guarantees even with the godsend. 

“Alright, Probably should…” Sam started, positioning himself so he could stand with Lily in his arms and take her to bed.

“Yeah,” Lana smiled, wishing she could give them more moments like this, “Goodnight Sam.”

“Night Sammy. Bright and early — we’re on the road!” Dean lifted his beer at his brother who disappeared into the house. 

“Bright and early?” Lana looked up at him with a small smile, “Huh…” 

“Want to hit the road at a good time. Got a lot of ground to cover,” Dean said as if it was totally normal for him to want to be up bright and early and as if Lana and Sam didn’t beat him awake almost every single day.

“Then I guess my run will be before dawn,” she wagered. 

“That…or maybe we could just have a little more sex?” he waggled his brows suggestively but also to make her laugh and it worked. Lana laughed, “Oh… I should never have said that.”

“Aw, now, don’t say that…” he took to nipping at her neck. 

_ Damn _ _it_.  Lana thought to herself — he was going to wear her down before they made it back to the bedroom. He really had a habit of distracting her when she least expected it.

“No vigorous activity this close to a meal,” Lana teased, hopping off of his lap.

Dean pointed a finger at her. “You’re mean.”

“And for some reason, you seem to enjoy that,” Lana laughed, shaking her head.

On some level it was kind of true, but Dean liked it better when she was being bossy than he liked it when she teased. At the same time, when she took a step back as he stood up, Dean noticed that she was being playful, and when he moved toward her, she moved out of his reach, a giggle escaping as he then proceeded to chase her into the house and up the stairs. Sam rolled his eyes as he heard them head across the hall and then up, pressing a kiss to Lily’s head as he settled himself into bed with her.

“Lily is sleeping!” Lana chastised Dean in a whispering shriek, and she sprinted into her room and sat at the end of the bed. “Hey!”

Dean laughed, and climbed on top of her, Lana laughing when his hands caught her sides. Usually she wasn’t a ticklish person, but the mood had her laughing regardless until she let out an ‘uncle!’, and Dean beamed triumphantly, placing a kiss to her nose as she caught her breath. Winning was always something that Dean Winchester could get used to.

“You have to lock the doors and arm the system,” Lana breathed out, still trying to catch her breath as she looked up at him. “Dean…”

Sighing, he nodded. “Fine--but don’t move.”

Hopping off of her, Dean went back out the bedroom door in a rush and made sure that the windows and doors were all locked before he armed the system (Lana had entrusted the code to Dean, Sam and Lily because they were family too), and then headed upstairs. His smile fell when he saw that Lana had in fact moved from her position on the bed, and was instead in the bathroom.

“I thought I said don’t move…” Dean told her, leaning against the doorframe and watching her brush her teeth.

Lana shrugged and smiled a little at him. “There was a lot of garlic in that. You really wanna make out with me with garlic breath?”

“I’m sorry, do you not know who you’re with?” Dean asked with a laugh, but he joined her at the sink to brush his teeth as well.

As someone who liked food as much as he did, things like garlic breath didn’t actually phase him much, but he was happy to have a gentle moment like this. He hip bumped Lana gently, trying to remind himself that the cute, domestic moments were fleeting, but sometimes he did wonder. Dean would never tell the others that he wondered, but he did, especially recently when he thought about Sam and Lily leaving.

Suddenly he was thinking about it again, Lana frowning as she rinsed her mouth and then finished up. His eyes got that sad look across them, and she knew he was thinking, so she stepped behind him and slipped her arms around him, kissing his shoulder blades. Dean appreciated the gesture more than he would ever admit, and tried to throw that wall back up for now.

Right now, they were all still here.

“Don’t go far away from me yet,” Lana said, nuzzling the back of his neck with her nose. “Everything was playful and then suddenly you went all melancholy.”

“Just thinking,” Dean shrugged, finishing up himself and then turning around in her arms. “Come on…”

After placing a kiss to her forehead, he took her hand, both of them changing, turning off the light and then snuggling up in bed together. The whole atmosphere had changed, and maybe they’d get the moment back, but Lana had a feeling he just needed to be held, and kept her arms around him, fingers in his hair.

“So what’s eating away at you?” Lana asked him gently.

Dean took a breath. “Just thinking about what happens after the demon is dead.”

“You mean when Sam and Lily go back to their lives?” Lana asked, snuggling in closer. “It's okay to admit you’re going to miss them, baby, but we’re  _ family _ . They won’t be out of our lives forever. If we ever needed anything, Lily will be the first person to come our way to help and you know it. So...is it me?”

“Lanni…” Dean said gently, making a sound she knew all too well.

He really didn’t want to talk about this because it meant he had to talk about his emotions, but if anyone was around that he could talk to, maybe it was Lana. She had feelings galore, and sometimes showed her emotions for the both of them, so maybe she’d get this.

“I don’t want you to go too,” Dean shrugged, shaking his head. “It’s fine. We don’t have to talk about it.”

“That works with Sammy, but it doesn’t work with me,” Lana responded, sighing when he turned on his side with his back to her. “Baby…”

Dean was still listening, but he wished he hadn’t said that at all. Yeah, he wanted to air everything out before they killed the demon, just in case, but this was rough for him. His abandonment issues ran pretty deep and he didn’t want to have to talk about it. Not with the one person he really didn’t want to have leave him.

“I love you,” Lana told him, pressing her front up against his back and slipping her arm around him to be the big spoon. “I’m not going anywhere unless you send me away. Even then, I’d probably fight you, because excuse you but  _ I’m _ the boss.”

That made Dean smile a little. “You  _ are _ bossy.”

“I am,” she nodded, kissing his back through his shirt. “I know you’re always worried about the other shoe dropping, but you mean too much to me for me to just throw you away. Even if Sam and Lily go back to school and get jobs and buy their own house, we don’t have to be far either. We could get a house near them--make it a safe house and be there sometimes when we’ve got down time. We have options. It isn’t going to be the same, but it’s us.”

Dean nodded, taking her hand in his and kissing it. “I love you too.”

“I know,” Lana whispered, and then settled against him for sleep.

**The Next Morning  
** Lana was up first to make some coffee, leaving Dean half awake and in bed, but if they were leaving today, then they needed to have caffeine. However, it didn’t seem like a very quiet morning when she heard a thud from the guest bedroom and hoped it was just some sex thing gone wrong.

**In the Bedroom  
** “Get it!” Lily screeched. She was clutching her towel to her body, standing on the bed and pointing furiously at the threshold between the bedroom and the bathroom. 

“I’m trying!” Sam called back, holding a shoe as he attempted to wrangle a particularly nasty looking bug to its ultimate doom. 

“Oh my god it touched me…” Lily shivered, being sure to keep the most distance she could between her and the offending insect. 

Sam, who was diligently trying to find where the bug had crawled behind some furniture couldn’t help but laugh, “You know you fight  _ monsters _ right? Like on the daily…” he threw a smirk back to her and she narrowed her eyes at him.

“You think this is funny don’t you?!” Lily exclaimed in an accusatory tone, “I was attacked and you’re laughing at me!” 

Sam could only laugh more, “Uh — yeah,” he wasn’t going to lie to her. Seeing a girl who had previously beheaded a vampire or faced down a Wendigo scream like a little girl and jump onto the bed still in her towel with wet hair dripping onto her body to avoid a bug the size of a quarter was really amusing. He didn’t often get quality amusement like this in his day-to-day.

“Just — get it!” Lily exclaimed as the beetle scurried out from behind the dresser and across the floor before ultimately meeting its doom beneath Sam’s ultra-large shoe. 

“Got it,” Sam sighed, getting a look at the bottom of his shoe with a scrunched nose. 

Lily came down from the bed and sat on the edge, letting out a breath of relief, “Good. It could’ve killed us,” Lily said in dramatic hyperbole, clutching the towel to her chest. 

“You’re right,” Sam resigned to play along as he set his shoe aside to deal with later, “What would you do without me?” he teased, approaching her seated spot on the bed. 

“Well I’d probably have to go on the run for burning Florence and Lana’s house down,” she answered, making him chuckle. 

“Well we wouldn’t want that, would we?” Sam shook his head. He leaned in and stole a kiss before resigning to finally find the shirt he was going to wear.

“No. I have a feeling when Florence gets mad, if like that ever happens, it’s probably really scary,” Lily stood from the comfort of the bed to seek out clothes. She could smell the coffee wafting from the kitchen and she was not strong enough to resist its sirens call. 

“Honestly, yeah. Probably. That’s probably why Dad gets on so well with her,” Sam smirked, throwing a shirt over his head despite the narrator’s dismay. 

“And a woman that can scold John Winchester is not a woman I want to mess with,” Lily returned, dropping her towel all together in favor of her traveling outfit of leggings and a tunic top, complete with hole in the hem. 

She caught Sam looking as she slipped into her undergarments and couldn’t help but smile, “You know we had sex like an hour ago, right?” she asked, looking up at him as she threw the shirt over her head. 

Sam shrugged, “Yeah, and?” 

“Just saying…” she replied but it always warmed her belly the way he looked at her. She could never fathom how she got so lucky. She wondered if the crazy life of hunting monsters and demons was like the balance for finding a man who loved her like Sam did. 

“You know we could’ve gone again but the bug…” Sam started but Lily held up her hand, “If you think I would ever have sex with something like that and its beady little eyes looking at me…” she shuddered again, “Think again.” 

Sam laughed and leaned in for a kiss but she maneuvered away teasingly, “Coffee time,” she said, pressing her index and middle finger to his lips in place of hers before she bounded off to the kitchen. 


	24. Rising Tensions

**A Couple Hours Later  
** The couples had finally roused to loading up the car and putting Florence’s house back in order. Making sure everything was locked down, alarm was set, and supernatural security measures were in place. 

“Ew, oh my god!” Lana exclaimed as Lily recounted her harrowing experience with the bug. 

“I know. And all Sam could do was laugh!” Lily said incredulously. 

“Wow, Sam, wow. Laughing at a woman in distress. Classy,” Lana teased him as she handed a duffle over to Dean who was packing the trunk ‘his way’. 

“Hey, I gotta get my laughs somehow,” Sam held up his hands in defense as he threw his messenger bag into the passenger seat. 

“And that’s why she’s sitting with me instead!” Lily replied, going to the passengers side backseat to take her place for their oncoming journey. 

“Munchkin’s afraid of bugs so now I gotta sit next to Sasquatch,” Dean gave Lana a look. Lana could only laugh. She cupped her hand against his face, “You had me  _ all _ night. I need some girl time. You’ll be fine,” She promised, leaning in for a kiss before she went around to join Lily in the backseat. 

The boys finally climbed in and they were ready to head east. As Dean adjusted his rearview mirror he asked, “How big was this thing anyway?”

“Like this big!” Lily replied, holding up a gross exaggeration of the bugs actual size. 

Dean glanced to Sam knowingly and Sam held up two pinched fingers signifying a very small bug. 

Dean shook his head, “My god,” he gave a chuckle as Lily swatted at Sam’s hand which only made him laugh harder. 

The mood in the car was good, spirits were high as the car pulled away from their little hideaway. As Lana glanced back at her house as it disappeared to the streets of Lawrence she had a sinking feeling that was the last time for a very long time they would get to have a moment like that; utter peace and domestic bliss. 

However, Lana’s phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out to find it was Lily.

**Lily:** It was HUGE. I swear. Like arachnophobia big  
**Lana:** Oh I know Thank God for Sam or we would’ve had to burn the house down  
**Lily:** RIGHT!?

The girls shared a smile and Lana was happy to see Lily in such a space. Her power always left her the most fragile, the most susceptible to the garbage they dealt with on the daily and this moment — well this moment was good. 

Lana then tuned in to the front seat.

“…not again,” Sam started with a groan. Lana could hear a cassette being popped into the player.

“You know the rules,” Dean replied simply as he turned the volume knob up. An 80’s hair band started and Sam tried to bury himself in his phone and the map on his lap. 

Lana’s phone buzzed again.

**Lily:** Okay bug aside you know it looks like you were attacked by a vampire right?  
**Lana:** He’s unstoppable.  
**Lily:** Have you tried garlic?  
**Lana:** I think that only made him stronger.

This marking-his-territory-thing that Dean was displaying, while incredibly nice, was also becoming a whole extra thing that Lana had to do when they had to hunt. It took makeup coverage and a strategic hairstyle, but when it was just the four of them, it didn’t matter as much: Sam and Lily knew what was going on and they didn’t mind.

**Lana:** I swear he sees one fade and thinks he has to make another.  
**Lily:** And yet, I bet you could pick a guy up at a bar in front of him.  
**Lana:** Probably could, but safer if I don’t.

The two girls laughed, Sam and Dean glancing back at them and realizing that even though they were sitting right next to each other, they were definitely texting each other. That meant that they were talking about things that they didn’t want the boys to know, and that made Sam chuckle to himself. Dean, on the other hand, was not at all amused that they were talking to each other and the boys didn’t know what about.

“What’s so funny?” Dean asked them.

Lily shook her head. “We are.”

Dean made a face. “Ha, ha. No, seriously: wanna share with the rest of the class?”

“No, we do not,” Lana responded with a laugh and a shake of her head. “We’re good.”

That only made Dean make another face, Sam laughing and telling his brother to just let it go. If the girls wanted to keep secrets then they were going to do so. Besides, Sam didn’t think that it was harming anything--they were probably just sending each other memes again. They did that sometimes on long drives where they were incredibly bored and there was nothing else to do.

“You two are mean,” Dean huffed, lips pursed together a little.

Lana smiled and set her phone in her lap for a moment before she reached forward and massaged his shoulders. He was so cute when he was annoyed, and while he gave a little sigh through his nose, he softened when she pressed three kisses to the side of his neck before she settled back into the seat. Sure it was PDA, but it was the kind of PDA that he enjoyed and he wasn’t going to let anyone take it from him.

He had grown almost  _ too _ comfortable letting Lana do things like that when he was with Sam and Lily. Holding his hand, kissing his cuts and bruises when he was hurt--like when she tended to his black eye--and even the occasional squeeze that neither of them should really be doing in public, but that they did anyway. All the little touches just reminded him that he had something that was thoroughly his.

**Lily:** You have him wrapped around your finger.  
**Lana:** I mean yeah, but he has the same affect on me.  
**Lily:** I’m just glad he isn’t alone.  
**Lana:** He’s worried about that constantly. Not sure I help all that much.  
**Lily:** You help more than you know.  
**Lana:** And yet he still thinks he’s going to be abandoned.  
**Lily:** That might be something he has to figure out on his own.  
**Lana:** Maybe, but hopefully soon.

“See, and now there’s no laughing,” Dean commented, shaking his head. “You’re talking about us, aren’t you?”

Lana looked at the rearview mirror to make eye contact. “How can you be so sure?”

“Because you wouldn’t dare be talking about You-Know-Who,” Dean told him simply.

“Voldemort? I mean, all the time,” Lana teased, and this time, everyone in the car but Dean laughed at the ‘ _ Harry Potter _ ’ reference that went over his head. “Baby, I’m going to have to start reading classic and popular literature out loud to you. Things that aren’t ruined by porn.”

At least that got Dean to smile, and the whole car quieted down for a little while. Things seemed peaceful and semi calm for once, and the girls were glad for a smooth drive. Sam was reading the journal a little and reminiscing, and for the next few hours things were pretty boring and yet content. But then, suddenly, Sam let out a strained sound like he was in pain, and the whole car went alert.

Azazel’s face came to him, yellow eyes and all, and that smug smile on his face. Next came a hospital and a flat line, but it wasn’t like his other visions. He could make out where it was, but he couldn’t make out what he usually could. He did know, however, as Lily reached for him from behind the seat, that there was blood and screaming, and if this vision had come to him, even in flashes while he was awake, then he was going to have to act on it.

“What did you see?” Lily asked him quickly.

She was the one who was the most used to these visions, and she wanted to know what they were about to be in for. After all, whatever he saw was usually Azazel connected and that meant that something could be wrong with John or Florence or Annie. All people that they didn't want to have anything bad happen to.

"Nebraska," he responded, holding his throbbing head. "That wasn't like the others."

Lana frowned at that. "Well Annie doesn't go to college there and so my mother isn't around there. Last I knew, John wasn't there either...so who is he targeting?"

"I don't know, but we have to go. Maybe I'll get a better vision when we get closer," Sam offered, rubbing his temples and then reaching to hold Lily’s hand. "I'm okay…"

No one in the car was convinced of that, but they nodded as Dean found his way off of the road they were on and started heading for Nebraska instead. They had the gun, they could end this, and they also needed to contact their parents. If they didn't, and something happened when they could have had backup, then they were royally screwed and they wouldn't be able to forgive themselves.

"I'll text Mom," Lana said as if she could read their minds. "They won't get there when we do, but at least they'll know."

Sam nodded quickly. "Dad too. He needs to know that his bait isn't working."

"I just want to know what Hell he is up to," Lana muttered as she started shooting off texts.

"We all would," Lily replied with a nod. "When you say this wasn't like the others…"

"I mean it was fragmented," Sam explained, shaking his head. "Usually it is a very clear picture, but the only thing I remember seeing clearly was his face and blood on the floor. Then there was screaming and I think it was you two."

He glanced back at Lily and Lana as he said that, Lana making a face. That could only mean one thing: that he had something planned for them and they were probably walking right into a trap. They couldn't just ignore Sam’s visions though, and Lily ran her fingers through Sam’s hair to soothe him. Dean had been rather quiet this whole time, and that made Lana tense up, Lily suddenly feeling more tense emotions than she would like.

"What if he knows something that we don't?" Dean asked them, nodding at the silence. "Where is the gun?"

Lana sighed, not wanting to argue this time. "I have it. Babe, I love you, but you have that look on your face. I'm not just handing it over. I will give it to you when we get there if the situation calls for it. As much as I don't want to, I agree with your father: we can't waste bullets."

"Between the two of us, who is the better shot?" Dean asked. Lily and Sam decided not to get involved.

"It's pretty even. I'm not playing this game," Lana returned, shaking her head.

"This isn't a game--someone could die," Dean replied to her as he drove.

Lana sighed when he said that. "I know, and I'm not going to entertain you if you're going to get mean for the sake of a bruised ego."

"Excuse me?" Dean asked, but Lana didn't reply--she wasn't talking to him anymore while he was in this mood.

“Stop it,” Lily ordered to Dean who was looking to pick a fight with Lana because she wasn’t giving him what he wanted. She was still attached to Sam the best she could from the seat behind him, wanting to ease his troubled mind. 

Dean glanced at her with a half-glare but said nothing more. He gripped the wheel tightly and stared at the road ahead.

The car ride had shifted dramatically from when they’d left Lana’s house and hit the road East. Now they were headed west into a probable trap because that’s what Sam’s vision meant they needed to do even if it meant certain danger. 

Nebraska wasn’t terribly far from Lawrence so they’d barely needed to stop at all before they’d crossed the border and Sam used the map to direct Dean to the best of his ability and his fragmented vision. The closer they got, the tenser the car became. Everyone was on edge as if they were suddenly going to come across Azazel in the middle of the road.

Finally, they pulled into a motel so they could make a plan and try to make better sense of Sam’s vision. 

Lana could tell Dean was itching to learn exactly where the colt was but Lana was just as good as he was about playing things close to the chest. Little did he know — the secret actually lay with Lily. 

“So we’ve got Yellow Eyes and a lot of blood,” Dean started after they’d settled around the room. Jackets were tossed across surfaces, shoes were kicked hastily to the floor. Sam’s laptop was opened and the “do not disturb” sign hung from the door. 

Sam licked his lips and gave a nod, “Yeah. And screaming,” he added, giving a worried look to Lily.

“Great,” Dean ran his hands over his hair, “I cannot wait to gank this son of a bitch,” he muttered. Now that they had a way to kill him, the end was too close for Dean to let it be ‘some far off thing’ — the end was nigh for the yellow eyed asshole. 

Lana was still distant from him. It didn’t matter that she understood him — now he was the one who was going to have to understand her. 

“Do you really think he’s setting a trap?” Lily asked, nervous that at any moment she saw the familiar set of yellow eyes that had been haunting her since she was a baby. 

“What else could it be?” Sam replied honestly. “I mean, look, we can’t ignore it. He’s not following Dad’s trail — somethings up. Something big,” he finished. His brow was creased with worry and Lily had completely lost the care-free bug killer she had nuzzled barely eight hours before. 

“Sam’s right,” Lana started, “He doesn’t do anything on accident and if Sam is seeing him — we’re right to be here. We can’t let him ruin any more lives than he already has,” she agreed, “Even if we’re setting ourselves up to fall right into his trap.” 

“Except there will be no falling,” Dean spoke up, throwing a hard look back to Lana, “We’re playing this smart. Safe. No one of you is going off to fall into his hands. I’m not losing anyone else to that son of a bitch.” he said, getting up to pace the room. 

“But we aren’t going to sit here hold up in this room either,” Lana replied, “We’re going to make the best plan we can and we’re going to follow it — it’s our best chance of finally ending him.” 

“Oh we’ll end him alright,” Dean replied, unable to formulate the proper words and express his concern about Lana getting so close to the man that was technically her father. He didn’t know exactly what would happen, or exactly what he wanted but all Dean knew was that it wasn’t good and that was enough for him. 

“Well if he had a hand in sending Sam a vision maybe he’ll be the one to make the first move,” Lily started, “Maybe our next move is to wait.” 

“Lily might be right,” Sam nodded, “I mean, we got this close — we came to where my vision was… who knows, I might get another that can let us make a better plan.” 

“We can’t wait forever,” Dean started. He was scared, angry. Someone was out there actively trying to hurt his family and that made him mad and it was coming out in his tone, how his fists clenched together, “But,” he let go a sharp sigh as he took a seat on the edge of the bed again, “We can give it a minute.” 

Despite Dean’s eagerness to kill old Yellow Eyes, he would not allow anyone (else) to run in half-cocked anyway, no matter how badly he wanted this done. 

“He’s all about the theatrics,” Lana added, “If Sam’s vision was really fragmented I bet there’s more to his plan that’s just waiting to blow.”

“I don’t like  _ that _ ,” Dean replied simply as if they were discussing these things as options. But there were no choices here. 

Lily didn’t have to say anymore to understand what the others were thinking. She didn’t know so much in words as in emotions. They were a perfect sliding scale from Sam’s bottomless pit of worry and despair, climbing through Lana and up to Dean’s anger and unchecked rage ready to bubble up at any minute, and that worried Lily. She worried that would send  _ him _ half-cocked into a situation he couldn’t get himself out of. She would have to talk to Lana about it but that could wait. 

“Well…” Lily started, wanting the pall over the room to dissipate, “If we’re going to wait a little while… why don’t we have some tacos?” 

The other three looked at her, surprised that someone even dared change the subject of the dreadfully heavy to something like tacos. But they would crush her under the weight of their emotions if something else didn’t climb into the mix to distract them and mix things up. 

There was a long silence until finally….

“Tacos and beer….” Dean mumbled. Despite himself, he laughed, hanging his head down for a moment shaking it from side to side, “Sounds pretty damn good.”

Sam was the last one to come around to the idea. However, his stomach was rumbling and he couldn’t deny that no matter what they were facing they’d have to eat, “You two should go together,” Sam said, knowing Dean would insist on picking them up, “This isn’t a time we should split up.” 

“Yeah, yeah, we know.” Dean replied, trying to be playful and teasing but it came out less-than. Lana, still cross with Dean, hesitated. No matter her fight with him, of course, she wouldn’t let him go off into the night alone but she was going to have to get into the car with just him and it was likely things would start up again. 

Lily looked to Lana and gave her a small smile, “I can go if you want,” she offered, trying to play it off.

“No,” Dean and Sam replied simultaneously. Lily didn’t know whether to feel loved or offended. “Okay…” she muttered under her breath in surprise. 

Lana stood and gathered her jacket, “No, you stay here with Sam. Dean and I will go get tacos and tequila.” She swiped the keys from the dresser top and without a glance back she headed out the door. 

Dean rushed to throw on his leather jacket, “No way is she driving…!” he was muttering as he followed her out of the door, leaving Sam and Lily alone together. 

After Lily processed the couple’s dramatic exit she approached Sam at his table-side seat, “It’s going to be okay,” she told him, running her hand down his face. His puppy-dog eyes were murky with worry and dread and it made Lily sad, “We’re going to figure it out.”

“Lily…” he started shaking his head, reaching up to take her hand in his and kiss the back of it as he gathered his next words, “My visions always come true.  _ Always _ .”

Lily was worried about that too, but mostly she was worried what kind of vision Sam was going to get when he actually could make sense of the whole thing. What was he going to see? What did Azazel have planned? There were a lot of questions that she wanted the answers to, but for now, she just wanted to focus on making Sam feel better about it all.

**At the Impala  
** Dean had practically stormed out of the motel room to find Lana getting into the driver’s seat and locking him out. It was clear that she wasn’t going to let him in, but he tugged on the handle anyway.

“Get out of the car,” Dean told her.

Lana shook her head. “Nope.”

The way that she popped the ‘p’ annoyed him more than it usually would, and he crossed his arms over his chest. He didn’t want to be mad at her, he didn’t--and vice versa--but they had already made it to this place where they were upset. It was just going to be a fight until it wasn’t a fight anymore, and both of them were stubborn enough that they knew that the other wasn’t going to budge.

“Get out of the car,” he said again.

“You can get into the passenger seat,” she told him through the window.

He ran his hand down his face and shook his head. “I’m driving.”

“I will leave your ass here,” Lana replied, putting the key in the ignition and turning it so the car started. “I’d suggest getting into the passenger seat.”

Dean let out a curse and then went around the car to open up the passenger side door, getting into the car and narrowing his eyes at her. “You’re in for it when we get back.”

“Yes, I’m very scared,” Lana said as she pulled the Impala out onto the road and out of the parking lot.

His arms crossed over his chest again and he huffed, Lana rolling her eyes as she drove, glancing over at him. She loved him, she did, but sometimes he was a child and she acted in kind so that he knew just how it felt. Was it his car? Yes. Should she have just let him drive? Probably also yes...but she wanted to force him out of this bad mood and the sooner the better.

“Why are you like this?” Dean asked her suddenly.

Lana glanced over at him before looking back at the road. “Like what?”

“Like  _ this _ ?” he asked again.

“You mean charming, and beautiful and a terrific driver?” Lana asked him, flipping her hair for emphasis.

“I mean a pain in my ass,” Dean responded, shaking his head.

Lana smiled, because she knew he was just mad. “I mean I could be…”

“Don’t you dare turn this into a sex joke!” Dean warned, shaking his head.

“Because it’ll make you crack?” Lana laughed, nodding when he pursed his lips together.

It was definitely going to make him crack--he already was--but they were in this fight and they were going to finish it out. They descended into silence until they got to the restaurant that had tacos, and they went in to wait at the hostess station. Seemed like a busy night for dinner, and they just wanted some take-out so that they could take it back to Lily and Sam.

“Thank you,” Dean said, sending a flirty smile to the hostess as she handed him a menu.

Lana narrowed her eyes this time. “Don’t make me play this game.”

“What game?” he asked, trying to act like he hadn’t just winked as they moved away.

“You know  _ exactly _ what game and you’re going to be sleeping on the floor, so,” Lana replied, snatching the menu out of his hands and holding it out of his reach. “No. You want it back, then I get a kiss.”

Dean looked at her and took a breath. “You think I’m going to kiss you right now?”

“If you don’t want to sleep on the floor,” she replied with a nod.

There was a moment where he thought about it, and then he thought, ‘what would happen if he didn’t?’, and then he stepped up closer to her. For a moment they just looked at each other, and then Dean opened up his mouth to ask what he thought was a very important question.

“You really going to make a scene here?” Dean asked her gently.

Lana tilted her head to the side. “The fact that you think I wouldn’t, means you don’t know me well enough.”

Dean nodded slowly, leaning in, but instead of kissing her, he brushed his lips across her nose and then chuckled when he plucked the menu right out of her hands. The look of surprise and annoyance on her face said it all, and he was so pleased with himself.

“That is  _ not _ what I meant,” she told him. “That doesn’t count.”

“You didn’t say what kind of kiss,” Dean laughed as he perused the menu. “So ha.”

Lana shook her head. “You’re not getting your keys back.”

**Back at the Motel  
** Sam and Lily wondered how the other two were faring, both of them curled up together and nuzzling close when the other two burst in and were  _ still _ arguing. They had hoped that the two of them would figure it out but apparently they were still arguing and Lana tossed herself onto the bed and went full starfish as Dean set the food bags down.

“I want the keys!” Dean told her, shaking her head.

Lana closed her eyes. “And I want my own room, but we don’t all get what we want.”

“I am not afraid to take them,” Dean replied as he made his way onto the bed.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Sam told them, getting up as Lily made her way over to the food.

Lana squealed, but a part of her enjoyed Dean’s attention. “Hey! That’s not fair at all!”

“Life isn’t fair, Buttercup,” Dean responded as he held her hands above her head and pinned them to the pillows. “I think you should apologize…”

“For what?!” Lana asked, but suddenly Sam let out a noise and Dean and Lana jumped to attention to give him their full focus. “Are you okay?”

Sam sighed and rubbed his temples. “Headache.”

“I’m sorry...we’ll stop,” Lana took a deep breath.

Lily had that warm feeling in her belly — seems like something had righted themselves between Dean and Lana but it was a short-lived feeling with Sam next to her, dealing with a headache and the anticipation that he would get hit with another vision. 

Lana patted Dean’s thigh as an ‘okay we’re done’ signal because they had bigger fish to fry. They could resume their romantic bickerings when Sam wasn’t prepping for some crazy vision involving their greatest enemy. 

Dean sighed and gave a nod to Lana. He made his way over to the food pile and clapped Sam on the shoulder, squeezing it for a moment, “You okay?” 

Sam sighed and nodded. Nothing had come through but he had a feeling it wouldn’t be long. He rubbed his temples a moment more before he took one of the chairs as Lily set a plate of tacos in front of him. He didn’t want to tell her he wasn’t hungry so he just nodded in thanks as she made her own plate.

Lana waited, realizing how instantly cold the bed felt once Dean had left and the harsh reality of what they were dealing with. However, she had an insane appetite so it didn’t put her off, she was ready for some tacos. 

Dean plopped down in the seat across from Sam, eating tacos one handed in case he had to spring into action if Sam started up again. Lily took a seat next to Sam on the floor. 

Finally, Lana joined their little taco table session but everyone ate in near silence, except Sam who didn’t really touch his food at all. 

Lily was put-out that tacos weren’t able to lift much of the mood and the pit of worry for Sam in her belly grew deeper. 

“You know, Lana made a scene at the taco joint. We’re definitely not going to be welcome back so enjoy your last Nebraskan tacos,” Dean started, looking at his brother in a direct attempt to brighten his spirits. 

“I did not.” Lana replied quickly, “I was being manipulated by a hands man and I stood my ground like the strong woman that I am!” 

“A likely story,” Dean replied with a mouth full of taco. 

Sam, who hadn’t touched his food, looked to Lana and attempted a smile but it fell short. Lana gently kicked Dean beneath the table for instigating another petty fight in front of Sam who was clearly not in the mood. Sam was the glaring reminder they had to get down to business, get serious. This hunt wasn’t run-of-the-mill. It was more dangerous and had monumental risks. 

“Ah,” Sam sucked in a gasp as another raging headache hit him. His hands flew to his temples and the room stood at attention. Lily nearly dropped her taco all over the floor as she propped onto her knees at his side, “Sam?” She wanted to take his pain away but became overly frustrated when all she could do was feel it with him. 

Sam was lost in another vision — more flashes of the same, yet different. Yellow Eyes was there, some dark looming space. Blood pooled on the floor. He was talking to someone... He was talking to Lana. Then the screams returned but this time he could see Lily screaming for someone, maybe Dean? With a searing pain that shot from his neck to his eyeballs, it all ended. When he opened his eyes, he found the entire room on baited breath. 

Lily reached up to wipe the sweat from his brow and brush the hair from his face, “What was it?” She asked gently, feeling a throbbing at her temples now that she had taken on some of his turmoil. 

Sam looked to Lana but was unable to say. 

“Well?” Dean asked impatiently, grabbing Sam’s attention away from Lana so he could answer.

“Sort of the same?” Sam started, “A little more clear... he’s definitely here... and he wants us. I know —“ he trailed off for a minute. “Dean you might be in danger.”

“What? Me?” Dean asked, and Sam nodded. He would approach Lana later about her part of his vision but Sam looked worriedly at his brother and took another breath, “Yeah.”

“How?” Dean asked, his shoulders rolling back, his body going tense. Lana put a hand on his shoulder.

“Didn’t see it,” Sam replied, feeling useless. What was the point of seeing these things if he couldn’t know more? “I just know...” he looked to Lily who was trying her best to give him some comfort, “I just know it.” He didn’t want to worry Lily any further that she might witness something better left for later.

The room went quiet again, the food forgotten as the mulled over the details that began to take shape. They all knew they were just waiting on another vision. They needed to set a plan to seek out the yellow eyed bastard before they were able to walk right into his trap. 

“We’ll figure it out,” Lana took command of the room, “We still have time to change the vision. You’ve done it before, we can do it again.” She said certainly. 

Dean nodded, he was a man of action and that was an action he could take to protect his baby brother and the women he loved, “Alright then. I’m going to get some beer from next door. Sounds like we’ve got work to do.” He abandoned his half-finished plate and stood to gather his jacket.

“Take Lily,” Lana said suddenly, which surprised them both so Lana continued, “We’re going to need snacks too and you shouldn’t go alone.” 

Sam didn’t love the idea but he needed to talk to Lana and the convenience store was literally less than a block away, “Yeah, and who knows, maybe coffee too. Could be a late one.”

Lily nodded. She pulled herself up from the floor and kissed the top of Sam’s head lovingly, “I’ll be right back...” she murmured, hating to pull herself away but Sam was probably right, they need to shift into their ‘all nighter’ mode which included beer, snacks, and different version of energy drinks. 

“Alright, c’mon,” Dean motioned with his head to Lily who followed him out of the motel room and down the sidewalk towards the liquor store. When they put a bit of distance between them and the room Dean stopped, surprisingly Lily.

“Did you feel anything? You know, anything different?” He asked. He wanted more information. Sam was getting crazy demon visions and now it involved himself for sure. 

Lily felt that sinking feeling return — her ability seemed to be of no use, not now. “No. Not over pain and worry,” she said, “I can’t see what Sam sees... but he’s worried — for all of us.”

“I don’t like it,” Dean said before he pushed off and Lily had to take two steps for every one of his to keep up. "It just feels like something is wrong."

"Because something is," Lily agreed, shaking her head. "Hey, at least we will have more food."

The sentiment made Dean smile, and he gave a nod as they headed into the liquor store to try and find something to take the nervous edge off.

**Back at the Motel  
** Lana knew something was up the minute that Sam had looked at her. Something in his eyes told her that he was nervous and serious all at once, and she swallowed. He didn't know what to say and neither did she, but he was the first one to speak up.

"I saw you," he said gently.

That hung in the air, the words laced with accusation, but he was trying not to accuse her of anything. After all, nothing had happened yet, but it didn't mean that something might  _ not _ happen. They were going to need to figure this out, and sooner rather than later.

"What was I doing?" Lana asked him slowly.

Sam took a breath. "Talking to him."

"To Azazel?" Lana asked, nodding when he did. "Do you know what we were talking about?"

"I just know that it didn't look good," Sam told her with a shake of his head.

Lana swallowed and then flexed her fingers. "I think I might know why, but you guys will be mad at me."

It was that, that made Sam make a face, wondering what in the world she could be talking about. What could she possibly have to say that would make them all upset with her? Did Sam even want to know? Yes, he did. When it came down to it, he needed to know what she had been hiding from all of them.

"Lana, we are supposed to be a unit," Sam started, taking a deep breath. "I need to know if you're going to be a threat."

He had Lily to protect, and Lana knew that that was what he meant by this. Sam wanted to know that he wasn't going to have to protect Lily  _ from _ Lana. He had grown to see her as part of his family, and he really didn't want to have to fight her. Not now...not ever. At the same time, Sam was going to need a straight answer.

Lana shook her head. "No, it's not that bad. It's just that I've been practicing."

"Practicing?" Sam asked slowly, running his hand down his face. "Like...what you can do?"

"Yeah," she replied gently, shrugging her shoulders. "I need to be able to protect you guys and I feel like I can do it better if I don't censor myself. If I can be who I was born to be."

"And what is that?" Sam asked, shaking his head. "This demon blood that runs through your veins...we don't know what it does."

At the same time, Sam wasn't Dean--he knew that it could give them a leg up and he  _ did _ trust Lana, but the vision was worrying him. What was he supposed to do? He needed to make sure that whatever happened, they were all going to be okay, and he rubbed his temples. What Sam needed right now, was a little more peace of mind.

"We don't, but I know that I can move things. I know I can sense demons--smell them. I know that I can control things better now. It doesn't seem to work with ghosts or other creatures, but I can force lower demons to stay still. If that's not an edge, I don't know what is." Lana told him, shaking her head. "Knowing g we are going up against my father, who can  _ pin us to walls with a thought _ \--I thought we might need more fire power."

She actually had a point when she said it like that, and Sam wished that she didn't. He didn't want to rely on these gifts, but he also wanted them all to make it out of this and this wasn't the best news. Especially because her practicing was probably what Azazel had wanted in the first place.

"Do you think he wants us to lure  _ you _ in?" Sam asked her curiously.

Lana took a deep breath. "I think that I need to be able to counter whatever he wants to do to you guys, and I don't know if I'm strong enough. I do know, that if it came down to it, I would sacrifice myself for you."

"I was equally afraid of that answer," Sam admitted to her.

She was so self sacrificing when it came to them, and he didn't want to think the worst: that one of them might be hurt so badly that she'd do what her father wanted. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he knew that if she thought that  _ Dean _ was dying, the more likely she would be to do what was needed to save his life.

Even leave.

"I don't want you to think you have to do that," Sam clarified, sighing a little. "We don't want to lose you either, you know?"

Lana smiled at the sincerity in his voice, and then took a breath. "I know. Hey, I want us to be a team and I want us to be able to be together always, but if you had a vision about me and my father, and about Dean potentially being injured, then we know what it is. I won't lose any of you...but we know I won't lose him. I can't go through that again."

Sam wanted to speak up and tell her that he got that, but still she needed to think about how Dean would feel after, but Lily and Dean came in the door. Honestly, Sam didn't think he should bring that part of the vision up at all, because Dean would only get more reckless trying to stop it, and Lily would have a lot to say. Instead, he smiled at his girlfriend and his brother, and he and Lana dropped it.

"There’s the beer!" Sam said with a smile.

Dean raised his eyebrows at him. "Because  _ that's _ not suspicious."

"Since when are you excited about us bringing back snacks and beer?" Lily laughed, but she was at least glad that some of the tension had dissipated.

Not all of it--she could feel worry--but Lana and Sam had obviously talked. What about, Lily and Dean weren't going to know anytime soon, but the two had come to an understanding about something and that much was obvious. Lana and Sam were too busy trying to make conversation for anyone to ask, but that was good too. Lily liked when Sam and Lana were getting along...now for Lana and Dean to fully make up.

"Dean says you banished him to the floor," Lily piped up.

Lana shrugged her shoulders. "He knows what he did."

"I can't help that I am charming," Dean winked at her.

"Charming? That isn't how I'd word it," Lana shook her head, pointing her finger at him. "Conceited maybe. Presumptuous."

Dean gave her a look. "You  _ know _ I'm charming."

"Did the hostess at the restaurant know that when I announced that you were a…what did I say again?" Lana asked him, giving him a look.

"What you said at the restaurant shouldn't be repeated…" Dean replied, shaking his head. "New subject."

Lily laughed then and shook her head. "No! What did you say?"

Lana smiled at her. "I raised my voice a bit and said that it isn't polite to wink at another woman less than half an hour after the best thing that ever happened to you was on her knees."

"You are a queen," Sam laughed, letting out a whistle as Dean made the same grumpy face as before. "So you did make a scene?"

"I just put my partner into his place," Lana shrugged, making a noise when Dean got onto the bed with her. "No! You deserved it! If you pin me again, I swear to God!"

Lily smiled and shook her head. "One day he will learn that you do not mess around, and he should not flirt with other women in retaliation."

“Unlikely!” Dean pointed back at Lily before righting himself on the bed to take a seat. He’d find his revenge upon Lana - but to maximize effect he would avenge when she was unsuspecting. Sam and Lily laughed because Dean’s honesty was spot on — he would not learn and these two would continue on this way … perhaps into eternity? Time would tell. 

There was a brief but comfortable pause. Dean hoisted the beer onto the dresser and cracked one open for himself. After a short huff of noise, he cracked a second one open and passed it to Lana, “Sammy?” Dean asked. Sam shrugged,  _ might as well _ ; a third beer was cracked open and passed off. 

“Wait,” Lily started, which grabbed the attention of the room, “Dean told me you banished him to the floor because he made a scene but — you were the one yelling about blow jobs,” she looked at Lana with a laugh, “I’m no detective but something doesn’t add up.” 

Dean let out a whoop of “ha!” when he realized he had managed to get Lily onto his side of things, “Guess who’s riding shotgun tomorrow,” he winked at Lily who could only laugh. 

“Hey!” Lana exclaimed, “Traitor,” she started at Lily with a laugh, “He’s the one flirting with the hostess!” 

“Dean flirts with anything upright without a penis,” Lily returned seriously earning a “hey!” from Dean who was acting insulted at God’s honest truth, “And you chose to love him anyway.” 

Lana shook her head. Lily was right, however, she wouldn’t be losing this war, “I’m not perfect, okay?” she returned with a laugh, “And you’re supposed to be on my side.” 

“I’m always on your side,” Lily replied, “But if you think Dean snores loud when he’s dead asleep next to you — how loud do you think it’s going to be on the floor?”

“Alright, alright!” Dean cut in, waving an arm between them as the conversation took a turn out of his favor.

Sam could only laugh, “Dean, she’s right. For all our sake’s, we have to hope Lana takes you back.” 

“Mm, we’ll see,” Lana returned into the mouth of her bottle. 

“Enough!” Dean called. He wasn’t angry, he just didn’t like to be on the losing end of things, “We should get crackin’ at Sammy’s vision, right?” 

Unfortunately, the rest had to agree. Lily pulled out a coffee-flavored energy drink which lead to a yelp from Lana. Lily smirked, “You have one too, it’s in the fridge,” Lily said. Lana thanked her and they were allowed to proceed in opening books and laptops and taking over every surface of the room with some sort of research, map, drawing, etc. 

“We know he’s powerful,” Sam started sometime late into the night, “We don’t have the powers to match him but he’s still susceptible to a devil’s trap…” he began to explain despite the uncertainty of the narrator who is way too rusty on this stuff, “But not much else.”

“Still a ball in our court if we can somehow trick him into one,” Dean said, “But how do we trick him into one? That son of a bitch always seems to be one step ahead of us like he’s psychic or something…” 

“He’s not psychic,” Lana put it, “But you’re right, he is good and we still don’t know how to avoid Sam’s vision. Every step we take we have to be careful otherwise we’re 100% walking right into a trap.” 

Sam knew withholding details from his vision could be a dangerous move however, he knew his brother too well. Dean would run off to protect Lana from trying to save him and if Lily knew she was screaming over Dean’s potential attack she would become protective and so careful it could get her killed. So he continued to do everything in his power to devise a plan to stop any of it from coming true. 

By the time Sam came up for air, he realized Lily had fallen asleep across his Dad’s journal with a half-drank coffee next to her. He gave a small smile, glad someone in the room was resting. Little did he know…


	25. Betrayal

**Inside Lily’s Head  
** Lily had not fallen asleep, she had been psychically kidnapped, so to speak. It was like a dream, a very visceral dream. She was in a house, a house very much like Lana’s in Kansas. It was a brilliantly bright, sunny day. She stepped through the house, half-aware she did not exactly know where she was or how she got there but an innate sense of calm worked through her like a drug. She could hear a voice across the house so she followed it until she found Sam in an office, phone to his ear. He was deep in a conversation, pacing the room. Lily worried something was wrong or that the case had taken a turn but when she listened in — he was talking about things like litigation and law. He noticed her peeking in and gave her a small smile and motioned to his phone like ‘sorry, I’m stuck’ and returned into the conversation with gusto. Lily stepped away, confused. 

Something began to feel off. The cloud of comfort and calm that smothered her was not genuine and began to make her nervous. Suddenly, a dog bounded up to her. Some type of retriever, beautiful and friendly, vying for her attention. “Oh, hi,” Lily muttered, leaning down to pet the dog who was overly happy to see her. 

That’s when she heard his voice, “Cute, isn’t he?” 

Whirling around, Lily came face-to-face with Azazel. He occupied the doorway, nonchalant and smirking. Lily stood quickly, too distracted to note that the dog vaporized instantly upon her shift of focus. 

Lily looked around again, things becoming clear, “This isn’t real…” 

“Always a smart one,” he winked at her, “No, it’s not real… well, not yet. But it can be!” he exclaimed like a used car salesman. He took a few steps forward which caused Lily to take a few steps back, “It’s all part of the plan.”

“You’re lying,” Lily accused instantly. No part of his plan would ever include a white picket fence and golden retriever for them. 

“Now why would I do that?” he clicked his tongue, “You forget you are one special girl…” he continued to encroach upon her space, and soon she was cornered, unable to move back any further, “Our Sam should really tell you more often…” he goaded. 

“He’s not  _ yours _ ,” Lily felt a jolt of anger and power run through her at the thought of Azazel ever considering Sam as ‘his’ — like they would share him. 

“Of course he is…he’s like my own son…” 

Lily could feel how confident and powerful he felt — how overwhelmingly smug. It turned her stomach. 

“Where am I?” Lily asked. She knew this house wasn’t real but everything felt real, she could smell fresh paint and feel the cushion of the carpet beneath her feet. 

“Now that’s… a complicated question,” he said, “But don’t fret… you do that too much, it’s exhausting,” he said as if they were old friends gabbing over a glass of wine, “I just needed to have a little chat, that’s all.” 

“About what?” Lily asked with no other option than to keep him talking. 

“About your little family,” Azazel answered, the room taking a dark and serious turn, “Both current and future, of course,” he wagered. 

“What are you talking about?” Lily demanded, feeling tired of his power play, of his cryptic words… 

“Oh, did Sam not tell you?” his yellow eyes glinted, raising every little hair across Lily’s body. 

“Tell me what?” Lily asked, feeling her throat swell with nerves. 

“The prophecy, of course. Well, to give our sweet Sammy some credit. he doesn’t know all the fine details so you’ll have to cut him some slack but it should have been obvious enough… you and Sam are my finest work… my Adam and Eve… except instead of gifting humanity Original Sin — which was delicious by the way but that’s neither here nor there — no, your gift will be your firstborn… and he will be…” he looked off as if recalling a dream, “Oh…so…powerful.” 

Lily’s mind was racing. Her mouth opened and closed several times, unable to process what the demon before her was saying, however, he held his hand up, “I know, I know… being a celebrity can be hard to swallow sometimes but don’t worry — if you follow the path before you everything will be alright…”

He began to step forward again, closing the distance between them. His yellow eyes darkened. His joking smugness evaporated into something much more sinister, “However, my prodigy… if you stray from the path…” he clicked his tongue. The weather outside the house began to change. The sunshine was snuffed out behind the darkest of clouds, thunder cracked in the distance, “Your little family unit…” 

Then she heard a loud thud and Sam yell out. A moment later she heard Dean’s voice yelling Sam’s name. It drew her attention away from the demon before her and she ran towards the noise. Thunder and lighting clapped outside the house and the hallways were dark and full of shadows. 

She flew down a flight of stairs and into a portrait of carnage. Sam lay in a pool of blood. Dean was across the room, against the wall and a terrible splatter of blood splayed out behind him like a morbid Pollack. “No, no!” Lily called. She ran first for Sam, pulling his head into her lap as she cried, trying to wake him. Everything felt so real she was lost in the dream. When she looked up, Azazel entered the room she found Lana behind him.

“Lana!” she cried out but Lana merely took a stance next to her father and remained emotionless.

“Well, now, I think you get the picture. Besides, the connections getting fuzzy and I’ll be seeing you soon. Goodbye,” he gave a wave with his fingers and everything disappeared all at once.

**Back in the Room  
** While Lily was ‘asleep’, Sam took notice of the fact that Lana and Dean were barely speaking, and while he didn’t usually like to get involved in their lives like he was about to, he  _ did _ root for them. They complimented each other, and Sam loved them both enough to want them to be happy--he’d want them to be happy regardless, but something else was going on here. Lily might have pointed it out, but Sam could tell too.

“So what led to the restaurant incident?” Sam asked softly.

Lana glanced at him, but Dean kept his eyes glued to his laptop. When she glanced at Dean to see him avoiding having this conversation, she just took a breath and shook her head. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk about it, but arguing would just wake Lily up.

“He’ll have to figure his shit out,” Lana responded, motioning to Dean with her hand.

Dean looked up then to narrow his eyes. “Exactly what is  _ that _ supposed to mean?”

“You know  _ exactly _ what it means, but keep your voice down. Lily needs the nap,” Lana replied before she went back to texting her mother and then pushed on Dean with her foot. “While you’re at it, get off of my bed.”

Sam frowned, seeing that they were still annoyed with each other, and he wasn’t any closer to figuring out exactly why. Sure, it had started back in the car with the whole arguing over the Colt, but it was clearly a lot more than that. Dean and Lana both had different coping mechanisms, but something had them wound up and Sam needed them to figure it out. They had to go into this with clear heads or something bad would happen. Azazel was too powerful for them to screw this up.

“It’s my bed too,” Dean replied simply, shaking his head and looking back at his laptop.

“Not when you’re not invited,” Lana responded, pushing on him again with her foot.

Dean reached over to push her foot away from him. “I’m not sleeping on the floor.”

“I mean, I’m cool with you sleeping in your car too,” Lana shot back.

“Okay, stop. Seriously. What is wrong? I don’t like it when you guys fight like this. The bickering is fine, but Lana’s clearly hurt and the fact that you’re not acknowledging that isn’t like you,” Sam explained to Dean, giving him a look. “It used to be, but I know you talk to her more than you talk to the rest of us.”

Dean didn’t like feeling like he was being singled out and shut his laptop to set it aside. Obviously they were going to have this out right now, and even though Lana wanted Lily to be able to get some sleep, she  _ was _ hurt and it was about time they acknowledged it. They fought like children sometimes, but Lana got what it was that Sam was trying to do right now.

“Pushing me away is  _ easy _ for him, regardless of talking to me,” Lana said pointedly, looking back at her phone to avoid looking at Dean when he softened a moment and looked at her. “That’s what it’s about.”

He wanted to argue and say it had nothing to do with it, but he hadn’t even noticed that he had been doing it. Like with his father, he had basically pushed her away a bit,  _ because _ he was worried about the outcome of a showdown with Azazel. It wasn’t about her, not exactly, and he sighed when she got off of the bed, reaching out to take her hand, glad she let him hold it for a minute.

“I’m sorry, Lanni,” Dean told her genuinely. “I didn’t realize…”

Lana nodded and pulled her hand away. “I know, but that’s the problem. I need some air.”

Dean wanted to protest her heading out on her own, but he couldn’t get his legs to move, and Sam sighed as Lana left them there in the motel room together. This wasn’t what he had wanted, but at least things had been aired out, because they were in for some serious shit if they kept things bottled up. Actually, that made Sam wonder if he needed to come clean too because anything he hadn’t told them all, would come out in a confrontation.

Demons preyed on things like that--secrets and unspoken truths. They lied, certainly, but that didn’t seem to be Azazel’s M.O., and because of that, there were plenty of things that were going to be said and done that none of them were going to be able to take back. So perhaps, even if Dean didn’t tell Lana until she came back, he could at least open up to his brother.

“So what really happened? It honestly feels like you guys were exaggerating to get our minds off of stuff and perk us up,” Sam offered, nodding when Dean nodded.

Sighing, Dean spoke. “I mean she didn’t make that big a scene. She might have said exactly what she said, but she said it deliberately when the hostess came back, she didn’t scream it across a restaurant. Looking back, she’s mad I shut her down on PDA.”

“Seriously? Again? Dude, last time she almost left,” Sam reminded him with a shake of his head.

“I’m just agitated,” Dean admitted, running his hand down his face. “She has our ticket to ending all of this and she won’t tell me where it is.”

“Because you’re  _ trigger happy _ ,” Sam pointed out, sighing a bit. “She’s doing it for your own good. For all of our sakes and the fact that you’re shutting her down at all means something else is up.”

Dean nodded, knowing that something else  _ was _ up, but it wasn’t something that he wanted to talk about right now. For once, he wanted to talk to Lana about things that concerned the two of them, and after the restaurant maybe he needed to do that. Come clean and all of that.

“Before he shows up, you have to air everything out...and so do I…” Sam nodded, glancing at Lily with a sad look on his face. He definitely didn’t want to do any of this.

**At the Restaurant  
** Lana had gone back to the restaurant and taken a seat, ordering cherry pie and then tensing when she felt the exact presence that she didn’t want to feel.  _ Her father _ . She knew it was him, even without his eyes being yellow, but he was keeping a low profile since there were people around. This wasn’t some vision, this was him actually here, and that made Lana wish that the gun was on her right now, but it wasn’t.

“Good choice, Princess,” he told her with a smile as he sat down next to her. “Never coined you for a cherry person, but I like the occasional surprise.”

She couldn’t make a scene, not here, because none of the innocent people around them deserved that. They didn't deserve to have carnage thrust upon them. Lana made a face and looked directly at him, speaking before he could say anything else.

"What do you want?" Lana asked him.

Azazel smiled at her. "Oh, Princess, I had a master plan--I still do. So many tiny things all blending together. All my psychic children, the prophecy...and you. You're special, you know that? Once in a blue moon kind of deal. A rarity. You're brimming with potential you have barely tapped into."

"I need to protect them from  _ you _ ," Lana told him, shaking her head. "What is this...prophecy? Is that the baby thing?"

"So Sam tells you but not his girl?" Azazel clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Well that just won't do. Can't have you figuring out the plan before it's time. What you should be more worried about is what happens if you  _ don't  _ do what I ask. You think you can control things now that you've cracked the door open? Without my guidance? No, my dear. You can't."

Lana got what he was saying, and had thought the same, because unlike the psychics, this demon blood of hers was half of who she was. It was  _ who she was _ , and the only person that she could ask about these things was her father but she didn't want to do that. She didn't want to have to rely on him for a damn thing.

"What will it take for you to leave them alone?" Lana asked him, wanting to stall since she didn't have the gun.

Azazel shrugged his shoulders and ordered a coffee. "That's quite the question, my dear. However, I need your other brothers and sisters to do what I laid out for them. At some point they'll come together just as they were meant to."

"How many other psychics are there?" Lana asked slowly, knowing that was who he was referring to.

"Tisk, tisk," Azazel shook his head. "Not yet, Princess. Not just yet."

She was pretty sure that she wasn't going to get anything else out of him, and after he drank a bit of his coffee, he rested his hand on her shoulder. Lana wanted to shrug it off, but she could practically feel his power radiating off of him and she swallowed instead.

"We are going to do great things together...when the time is right," he told her, leaving the restaurant.

That left uneasiness in the pit of Lana’s stomach and she got up to leave as well, catching Dean standing there looking at her. He hadn't seen Azazel, which was just as well, but he had had a feeling that she would be here. Walking up to her, he caught her off guard with a kiss as she asked what he was doing there, and she smiled a little.

"Sam spell it out for you?" Lana asked teasingly.

Dean shook his head. "I figured it out. You gotta talk to me."

"You've gotta do the same," she responded, laughing when he kissed her again and then took her hand.

**Back at the Motel  
** Sam had still been deep in his research when Lily had woken up, not really wanting to tell her he had let Dean go off on his own, but he went to grab Lana.

Lily felt as if she’d been hit by a truck. The energy it had taken away from her for Azazel to invade her mind and show her things had been great. She looked around, gathering her senses, remembering what they had all been doing before her world shifted. 

“Where’s Lana and Dean?” she asked, as the ‘dream’ began to replay over in her mind. 

“Hopefully working things out,” Sam replied, able to avoid that ‘they left separately’, “They know how serious it is that they get on the same page while we…you know… their “old married couple” antics were getting out of control.” 

“Huh,” Lily nodded as her thoughts struggled to put themselves in some cohesive order. She rubbed her eyes and it finally sunk in that they were alone, at least for now. So Lily looked to Sam and with great difficulty managed to ask, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Sam’s forehead creased in confusion, “You were asleep…” his mind still on the track of Dean and Lana and the drama that had unfolded while Lily slept. 

“No,” Lily shook her head. She and Sam rarely fought about anything — usually over her position on hunts but this was so different. This was uncharted territory, “About the prophecy, Sam.” 

Sam’s heart sank. How did she know? He remained quiet but the look on his face told Lily everything she needed to know. Azazel hadn’t lied to her: Sam knew  _ something,  _ “Why would you keep that from me?” she asked, trying to remain calm and level-headed but her throat swelled up as she asked. 

Sam let go a sigh and he shut his laptop, “I didn’t know how to tell you,” he replied honestly, “And I didn’t know… I didn’t know exactly what it meant just that it wasn’t good. I didn’t want you to worry…” 

“Sam I don’t live in a bubble… you can’t keep something like this from me! I know you want to protect me but keeping me in the dark isn’t protection! Azazel told me…” however, she was unable to continue when Sam stood up at the sound of his name, “He what—?!” 

Lily nodded, “He… I don’t know, spoke to me? I woke up in some other house, our house, I think and he was there…” she tried explaining her weird psychic interception. 

Sam shifted his weight from foot to foot. He could protect her but not if Azazel was breaking into her mind, he couldn’t protect her there. He ran his hands through his hair, afraid and frustrated and began to pace, “What did he say?” he asked for lack of a better way to express his rage at what the YED had done. 

“He said that — he said that our first born was… would be special. Powerful,” she tried to explain, “And the way he said it, I don’t think in a good way.” 

Sam paled. His dream: he understood it now. Lily’s bleeding stomach, the baby with black eyes… 

“So why didn’t you tell me?” Lily asked again, “I have a right to know something like that.” 

“Yeah, I know,” Sam replied, “But my vision-er-dream was abstract. Like I said, I didn’t know what it meant,” 

Sam shook his head, his muscles tense, “Not til now. Did he tell you anything else?”

Lily hated remembering this event but it was important that she log every detail so they could keep any of it from happening, “He said that if we didn’t fulfill the prophecy that my family would…” the flashes of Sam and Dean dead on the floor — of Lana, seeming soulless next to her father made her eyes water. She struggled to find the right words to explain that it would destroy them all but Sam got down on his knee before her, “Yeah,” he told her getting the gist. It was a pretty standard ‘do it or everyone dies some grisly death’ type-deal, “But you know we’re not going to let that happen. Ever.” he struggled to get her to meet his eye. 

“How can you promise that?” she asked, shaking her head, “Now I know we —we can’t have kids…” her voice broke when she finally said it out loud but she tried to solider forward, “…but if we don’t? It could kill them…and you,” she finished, tears breaking through and streaming down her face. 

“We have the colt. We’re going to have a plan… he’s going to die before any of that matters, okay?” Sam told her, pressing his hand gently against her face. She nodded, unable to argue further with him because her mind continued to run the reel of her blood-soaked dream again and again and again. 

Sam shot a quick text to Dean and Lana asking them to come back. This was not a time to be split up, especially if Azazel was getting this close to them. He took a seat on the bed so he could pull Lily into his lap and she cried into his shoulder over the weight of her dream.

**At the Restaurant  
** It was difficult at first. Neither one wanted to dive right in. They made jokes, they played footsie and Dean tried to steal her pie, but eventually they began to talk about what they really needed. Lana avoided telling him yet about Azazel showing up — perhaps when they were all four together, safe in a room, she would say… or maybe not. Would it do good to tell them at all? Or would that make things worse? Send Dean into a yellow-eyed-demon-killing-rampage that would get him hurt? 

“You know,” Dean continued as they talked, “You know how hard it is sometimes to talk — especially with Sammy and Munchkin so close but I uh,” he cleared his throat, stealing another bite of pie from her plate, “I won’t deny anymore how important it is and I swear, Lanni, I’ll do better,” he still held one of her hands in his own, running his thumb over the top of her hand. 

Lana nodded, “Yeah, and I’ll try telling you what I need. Straight up,” she answered but he began to chuckle so she asked, “What?!” 

“Didn’t think you struggled with that one,” he teased her. She was bossy and demanding and her cold feet were always against him but deep down he knew what she meant.

“Watch it, mister,” she warned but they both laughed. However, when they each received a text message at the same time, it caught their attention. 

“’s Sammy,” Dean muttered, opening his message, “Wants us back.”

“Can’t be good,” Lana said, a terrible sinking feeling in her stomach. Between her seeing her Dad at the restaurant and Sam urgently calling them back to the room? Things were spiraling out of control faster than Lana liked to admit. 

“Let’s go,” Dean shifted from ‘touchy-feely-self-help-yoga’ man back into business mode as they left the diner. However, that didn’t mean he’d let go of her hand.

**At the Motel  
** It had been a quick drive to the motel, but one look on everyone's face made Lana and Dean realize that they were in for some talking. After all, when a demon came for you, they used your secrets against you. A lot of them lied, but most of them really had no need for petty things like that.

Azazel certainly didn't need to play like that.

"Well, something tells me that this is serious," Dean announced, sitting on his and Lana’s bed and taking a breath. "A feelings pow wow?"

Lana laughed. "You certainly have a way with words."

"It's a gift," Dean said with a smile.

"We're all here for a reason," Sam pointed out, shaking his head. "I don't think we were lured here on a whim."

Lana shook her head and took a seat too. "No, we were not. We were lured here because dear old dad has plans set in motion and three quarters of us are part of them. You two have some prophecy to fulfill, and I've got...well, his blood runs through my veins. That means more than he is letting on. Just how many demons have yellow eyes? We know they have a hierarchy, so what if I'm bad?"

"You're not bad," Dean said quickly, Lily seconding it and Sam chorusing the same.

They had been together long enough to know that Lana was one of the best people that they knew. She didn't act like the kind of person that was half demon--at least not the way that people would think a half demon person would act. Lana was constantly mothering them and protecting them, but they also didn't know what switch might flip if she used her powers consistently.

"Wait a minute...what prophecy?" Dean asked suddenly.

Lily took a breath and then looked at Lana. "How did you know?"

This was the moment where Lana didn't want to lie, but she also didn't want to get Sam in trouble.

"My father seems a little dependent on it," she decided to say, because that wasn't a lie. "That has to be upsetting, though…"

She didn't really want to talk to Sam and Lily about something this sensitive in  _ this _ conversation, but Dean was still out of the loop. That much was painfully obvious when he once again asked them what prophecy they were talking about.

"Sam and I are apparently destined to have a demon child," Lily said pointedly.

Sam cringed at the way that she said it, but she was still mad that he had  _ lied to her _ about it. Lana felt a little bad too, but she didn't want Sam to be in any more trouble than he was now. Him coming to her about the dream and not telling Lily, was only going to make Lily more upset than she was right now and Lana didn’t see the harm in talking around it. After all, it wasn’t a lie that her father was counting on it--her father wanted to have  _ all _ of his plans work out, and Lana just wished that she knew more about them.

At the mention of a demon child, Dean felt himself tense up, mostly because he didn’t know what to say about that at all. He barely felt comfortable addressing potential kids with Lana, and now suddenly he was feeling tense for a whole other slew of reasons. Lana was half demon so what would their kids even potentially be? Should they have kids? They hadn’t even had an actual conversation about the recklessness that had happened as of late and maybe they should really address it.

“So he wants you two to get it on and you’re still doing it?” Dean asked them.

Sam gave him a look. “Okay, don’t suddenly disapprove. You can have sex and not have a kid.”

“Yeah, but that kind of makes a choice for you that no one should make for you,” Lana replied, shaking her head. “I’m sure that we can find a way around it.”

Lily wanted to snap that the way around it was just not having kids, but she didn’t really want to talk about that right now either. Dean didn’t know what to say because now he had a million more questions that he wasn’t sure that he should ask, and Sam felt at a loss. He had managed to piss Lily off, and now Lana was saying how he was feeling, but also there was more to it than that. It was also an actual conversation that he wanted to have with Lily, just the two of them.

It was  _ their _ business.

“I’m just saying, a demon child?” Dean asked them.

Lana pushed on his arm. “Stop. It’s not our business.”

“It a little bit is,” Dean responded, shaking his head.

“It ten thousand percent is  _ not _ ,” Lana replied, giving him a look. “Them having kids is up to them. I don’t care what my father said, I’m sure if they want kids, I can figure out a way around it.”

Dean wanted to speak up, but the looks that he was getting told him to shut his mouth, and for once Dean listened to the looks thrown his way. He still thought that if a demon child was going to come about, it was all of their business because it would be a child they would have to raise, but he also got that he wasn’t allowed to tell them they could or couldn’t have kids. Lana was just so desperate to change the subject, that she finally dropped the bomb that she had been hiding from them all.

“He’s here,” Lana told them, everyone looking right at her. “Yeah...when I went to get some air, he showed up.”

Making a sound Dean stood up. “And you didn’t tell me when I got there?”

“No,” Lana told him firmly.

“Because you’re trigger happy,” Lily finished for her, Sam giving him a look because he had told him the exact same thing before.

Dean shook his head. “Got nothing to do with it. You were in danger and you didn’t tell me.”

“I’m not in danger,” Lana responded, but this time she looked nervous. “I really don’t think I’m in any danger with him. I’m his miracle child that he didn’t think was possible. I’m half demon, half human, raised by a hunter, and I have untapped potential.”

“No, you have untapped  _ demonic _ potential. You don’t need any of that,” Dean cut her off.

Lily stood up for her this time. “Being half demon is who she is. We’ve known this from the very beginning and accepted her into the family. Her being able to do things--even if they freak us out--isn’t a deal breaker.”

There was a significant part of Dean that agreed with that, but a part of him was still worried, and he was even more worried because of recent events. He looked at her and he just saw the woman that he loved, but what happened when he saw her do things that demons could do? What happened if other hunters found out about her and made them their enemies? Dean wasn’t sure that he was actually ready for that.

“It’s also not a road that we should be entertaining,” Dean pointed out.

Lily could feel hurt coming from Lana when Dean said that, but chose not to bring it up when Sam started talking. She knew that some things just had to be discussed between Lana and Dean, and as much as she and Sam might like to interfere a little, this was their issue to handle.

“What we need to do is be vigilant,” Sam explained with a nod. “So we need to be ready. Draw some sigils, set things up, and have the Colt ready.”

Dean looked pointedly to Lana when Sam spoke of having the colt ready. Lana raised her brows almost as an invitation, ready for a fight if need-be. It was important they abated any in-fighting until this was sorted for they needed to be at their strongest but she wasn’t perfect…this was all really heavy. 

“If that sonuvabitch is coming around and showing himself and spewing hell-prophecy crap we all need to know where the Colt is,” Dean said plainly, “You all think I’m trigger happy but we don’t know which one of us might need to save the day!” 

“If we have a solid plan we will totally know!” Lana returned, standing up to face him. She did not want to fight anymore but tensions in the room were at an all time high. 

“Listen, sweetheart, we all know things don’t always go according to plan!” Dean replied harshly, “I think you need to come clean about where it is or I’ll find it myself.” 

“You can’t stand you’re not in control for once!” Lana returned, throwing her arms into the air, “Even if it could save our lives you couldn’t let go — you’re incapable of not being selfish!” 

The tension in the room was singular. A violin string pulled too tight, one strum and it was going to snap. 

“Stop!” Lily yelled. She couldn’t take it anymore. She wasn’t allowed time to process her own experience, the bomb dropped on her about her hellish womb and they were potentially running headfirst into a trap somewhere with a lot of screaming and blood. The last thing they needed was for Lana and Dean to rip into their healing wounds and ruin everything. 

Luckily, both Lana and Dean stopped yelling when Lily stood up and called them out. Lana began to pace frantically but Dean remained rooted, watching her, his muscles tense. 

“We have work to do,” Lily said, echoing what Dean had told her so many times before, “Sam’s right,” she said, still unable to look at him. She dug into a bag of wares they threw together and pulled out a paint-marker and pushed it against Dean’s chest, “Sigils.” she told him like a drill master. He looked down at her, every fiber of his being wanting to fight her and take control but in this moment all he could do was set his jaw and brush her aside to start at the door. 

Lily snatched a large tin of salt from the bag and handed it to Lana. Lana, more level-headed than her counterpart, wanted to say something, some sort of an apology to Lily but nothing came out. So she accepted the salt and went to work creating boundaries. 

Dean had started drawing a protection sigil on the back of the door when he finally spoke again, “That gun needs to be ready,” he said, noting that Lana was pouring Salt into the track of the window. 

“I don’t have it,” Lana snapped, unable to look at him yet. The only god-send they had was that this Nebraskan motel room was a little roomier than others. It had a couch, a kitchenette, and space between bedroom and ‘living space’. Lana could only imagine what this would be like if it was some cramped two-queen bed sort of deal. 

“Excuse me?!” Dean exclaimed. 

“I do!” Lily called, causing Dean to whirl around at her voice. Lily was holding the gun at her side, “Lana always knew where it was but I had it with me.” For it was true, Lily was the less trigger-happy of the four and the least suspecting. 

“No offense, Munchkin, but I think with what we’re up against, that thing is a little out of your wheelhouse so why don’t you hand the colt to Sammy?” Dean said, still in a whirlwind of emotion. 

Sam gave his brother a look but didn’t deny that now that things were heating up, it was important the gun was in a hand that wouldn’t waver. 

Lily stepped forward and set the gun on the small round dining table that was nearly centered in the room, “It’ll be right here,” she told him, wishing she had it in her to fight him about the condescension he’d just thrown at her. 

Sam stepped over and placed his hand comfortingly on Lily’s shoulder once she released the gun but she stepped away from him, causing Sam’s hand to drop back to his side. Sam and Lily fighting was so rare, Sam was at a loss for what to do. 

Lily took a seat on their bed, back to the headboard and she put a pillow over her lap to hug it to her chest. She closed her eyes, trying to use the one thing that made her different from everyone else. She wanted to see if she could feel their enemy anywhere nearby — or anything off. Anything at all that wasn’t the pain radiating through the room.

Things were so tense no one bothered asking what she was doing, or why she was on the bed instead of helping. Not like there was much she could do — Dean was fast and deft at sigils, Lana was nearly done with the salt and Sam was sorting through their weapons bag for what could be of most use to them in this fight. 

“So, we're just going to hold up here, wait him out?” Dean said. His voice dropped back to its normal tone, able to handle things now that they were strictly in ‘business mode’ which was his comfort zone, “We’re going to have to leave eventually…”

“Yeah,” Lana agreed, “But we needed this, some sort of home base, one he can’t infiltrate — in  _ anyway. _ ” she said, hoping he couldn’t find his way into her or Lily’s head with all of the protective barriers they were putting into place. 

“When we leave here it's with a plan,” Sam said surely, “He wants to send us into a trap — well we’re going to have to set a better one for him.” He did not know exactly how yet but his mind was working fast on fusing the pieces together. They did have a slight advantage, there were three of them that weren’t expendable to him. He wanted something from them and they would have to use that to gain the upper hand. He knew Dean wouldn’t like using Lana as bait but Sam began to think that might be their best option — he’d already proven he had no intention of  _ ever _ hurting her. 

Lana, having expended her usefulness with the salt, took a seat next to Lily on her bed, resigning that the girls were going to be sleeping next to each other for the foreseeable future, quietly took Lily’s hand in her own for comfort, wanting the other girl to know she was there supporting her. 

When Lana grabbed her hand, Lily felt an instant boost — like a radio signal that suddenly cuts through the static. It was vague, blurry, more emotion than vision but she could feel him. He was in a house of some sort - he was confident, smug, even happy. She didn’t realize demons could feel such a thing. Then she was hit by a cold chill and enough of a vision that she ripped her hand out of Lana’s and opened her eyes, breathing heavily. 

“What is it?” Lana asked worriedly as Lily looked back at her. 

“I —“ Lily searched for the right words. It wasn’t a vision, it wasn’t what Sam must see when he is burdened by sight but it was like a knowledge stemming from an emotional connection, a blurred bloody vision, “— he’s killed someone… maybe two? I think he’s waiting out somewhere….for us,” Lily tried. Azazel must have killed the couple of the home in order to reign as king of the castle, “Close.”

“And how do you know that?” Dean asked, harsher than he meant to; the thought of Azazel anywhere nearby worried him and he still did not know how to deal with the fact that his entire immediate family, everyone he loved, had some crazy connection to this demon. 

Lily shrugged, “I could feel it. I just concentrated and then... “ Lily looked at Lana:  _ and then when I held your hand… _ but she did not say that piece out loud.

Lana took a deep breath and then she shook her head. “Look, we’re over talking this to death. I’m going to go and find him. If I can get him to stop, or figure out how to appease him, then so be it. All of us running into an obvious trap is stupid.”

“You’re not going alone!” Dean told her harshly.

He wasn’t about to lose her--that seemed like a no-brainer to him--but he also knew deep down that if Azazel wanted to kill his daughter, he would have done it already. No, he had some kind of plan that he was trying to implement here, and it was more than just hoping that Sam and Lily would conceive this prophetic miracle baby. Lana was trying to throw herself directly into the path of a demon that could easily spirit her away from them, and Dean was simply not having it at all.

“We can’t just stay here!” Lana protested. “I know that we all want to have some foil proof plan, but there is no foil proof plan! He is going to keep killing people and baiting us until we  _ confront _ him, and I’m the least likely to get  _ murdered _ by him!”

Dean shook his head again. “No. End of discussion.”

“You don’t get to decide that for me!” Lana replied sharply, silence descending on all of them.

This was her fatal flaw: self sacrificing practices. She was more than willing to lose her life and/or her livelihood just to save them, and none of them wanted that, least of all Dean. What surprised all of them, was Sam stepping closer to her, and resting his hand on her shoulder. It wasn’t that they didn’t know that the two also had a bond, but out of all of them, Sam speaking up hadn’t felt like the next step.

“You and I can go together,” Sam told her, holding his hand up when both Dean and Lily started to protest. “Exactly how smart is it to have all four of us go? If just Lana and I do, I can take the shot, and she can distract him.”

“Like he won’t be expecting that,” Lily said bitterly, shaking her head. “No, that’s a terrible plan.”

Lana took a breath. “It is the best plan we have. It leaves Trigger Happy over here out of it, leaves Sam with the gun since Trigger Happy doesn’t trust me with it, and it leaves you safe. I only say that because he will use your emotions against you because he knows what you can do. I in no way think you can’t do this, I just don’t think that the four of us should be together.”

Lily knew that out of all of them, Lana was the least likely to ever tell her that she couldn’t do something, but she was also annoyed that this was the plan. Sam and Lana walking into a place where Azazel was just waiting for them? How was that even a good idea? Sure, he wanted this child to be born, so he couldn’t kill Sam, and why kill a miracle half demon child that he could instead exploit? So perhaps they wouldn’t die, but torture was still in the demonic wheel house.

“I have already vetoed,” Dean shook his head at them.

“You don’t get to make that choice,” Sam said with Lana’s sentiment, as he reached for the Colt. “We can’t go in all four all at once. If you’re really so against it, you can be the back-up.”

Dean gave him a look as Sam put the Colt into the back of his jeans. “You have got to be  _ kidding _ me!”

“They’re not kidding,” Lily shook her head, shaking it more.

Sam and Lana honestly thought that it would be better for them to go in two at a time and not four at a time, and maybe they were right, but not like this. It couldn’t be like this. Why was it like this? Lily didn’t want to have to deal with both of them somehow being in trouble and then what? Her and Dean got them out of it? Dean, who Azazel didn’t even need?

How did that keep Lily safe?

It was clear that they were thinking about that now too, because Lana had a look on her face, and Sam was thinking the same thing. He didn’t want Lily to be in danger because Azazel didn’t need Dean for a plan, but he also didn’t want Lily anywhere near Azazel if he could help it. There was too much at stake, and with Florence and John not here to help, it was now or never.

“Then I should have the gun,” Lily said suddenly. “I’m going to need it the most, and if you really want to start with the two of you going head first into this, then you’re not going in with the Colt.”

Dean nodded quickly. “Munchkin can take it.”

“No,” Sam said suddenly.

“What do you mean ‘no’?” Dean asked him seriously.

“I mean no, that’s not how this is going to work,” Sam responded. “He will expect Lily to have it or you to have it, if Lana and I go in first, so one of us needs it.”

This was where they were definitely not going to be seeing eye to eye, and they were going to have to figure it out because they were about to walk right into something and they had to figure out how they were going to do it. There was a lot to think about and a lot to take in, but Lana was already putting her jacket on, so she at least had made up her mind completely.

“I am so not looking forward to this,” Dean said, shaking his head. “You two are really just going to walk right in with the gun and think that Lily and I are just going to  _ let you _ ?!”

Lana shook her head. “Of course you’re not just gonna let us.”

What they didn’t know, that Sam did, was that Lana had been practicing, and when she and Sam took a step toward the door, Lana moved her hand and the coffee table blocked them off from Lily and Dean. There was obvious hurt in both of their eyes, but it was clear that the plan was as follows: Sam and Lana get Azazel talking, and Dean and Lily catch him off guard, then the Colt would be used.

“What if this goes sideways? Can you live with yourselves?” Dean asked them.

Yeah, he was pissed Lana could do that now, but also he finally got through to them, as Sam took the gun out of his pants and set it on the table. Lana nodded, motioning for Lily to take it, and then she and Sam decided to head out, Lana pretty sure that she could sniff her father out.

It took a moment, once Sam and Lana walked away for either Dean or Lily to move. The gun felt so heavy in Lily’s possession — their safety, their future, and their lives were now in her hands. 

It seemed, once Lana was far enough away, the table gave way and Dean flipped it out of his way with a yell of anger, “I can’t believe them!” He called. He quickly saddled up with his jacket, his pistol, and without a breath continued, “They think this half-cocked plan is going to work?!” he wrenched the door open, “Come on!” he called after Lily. 

Lily knew this was a turning point, for all of them. No matter what happened tonight, what the outcome between them and the yellow-eyed demon was… this changed things. This was the first plan ever to be made against committee, to be held down by Sam and Lana together — to not involve Dean at all… to be so self-sacrificing in the face of their greatest enemy…

Lily, having to quicken her step to keep up with Dean, followed with the weight of the responsibility on her shoulders, and the storm of Dean’s emotions in her belly, “Dean what if this doesn’t work?” Lily asked, knowing it wasn’t his plan, “He gets exactly what he wants.”

“Don’t you think I know that?!” Dean replied. He wasn’t angry with Lily, of course. He actually felt connected to her, protective — she had been betrayed moments ago just as he had been but he was in a blind rage and she was the only one close enough to see its wrath, “That’s why we’re going to stop it. “Back up”, my ass…” he was racing to follow Sam and Lana although he had no idea where they were going, but they’d had a good head start. 

“Dean, wait!” Lily stopped him. She didn’t want to fall behind but her gut told her she needed to look Dean in the eye. He was a hurricane and Lily had to find the calm in the storm, “Dean!” Finally, she got his attention although he made his impatience clear, “I know what Lana and Sam did was stupid, reckless, and honestly if we all live through this I’m not sure how we forgive them but -- Sam’s vision happened for a reason and it’s  _ you _ that gets hurt. Please, don’t do anything reckless. I  know he won’t hurt Lana,” Lily spoke of Azazel, “I don’t want him getting his hands on her but she really is the safest one of us… just remember we’re trying to change Sam’s vision -- not make it happen.”

“I’m going to do whatever it takes to get Lana out of there --,” Dean said. Despite his anger, hurt, and betrayal that seeped into his love for her, those things didn’t matter: protecting her did, “And I did not come pick your ungrateful asses up from college to lose Sammy like this. So -- if we’re done talking--” Dean started off again and Lily raced to catch up with him, knowing not a word she said had gotten through his thick, impulsive, Lana-loving skull. 

**Up Ahead  
** The path narrowed as Lana led Sam through the woods. She tried to forget the motel room, forget what it took to get them here and focus in on just her father. If Lily could find a clear signal by touching her hand — she had to be able to find him. Lily had confirmed he was close by — waiting for them. The canopy of the forest made it so dark she could barely see, but her feet kept pushing on - one in front of the other. Leaves and twigs cracked beneath her feet. Brush scratched up her ankles and made it difficult for her to navigate forward but she was determined and nothing would slow her mission.

The small path emptied into a back lot of some abandoned warehouse and in the distance was the faint glow of a house perched on a small hill. “That has to be it,” Lana looked up to Sam who looked over the house. He couldn’t see enough detail but the pit in his stomach told him she was right, “It’s gotta be where my vision came from — and we can’t let that happen.” 

“You’re right,” Lana pushed onward and the two rushed across the lot, remaining as stealthy as they could, “No way Dean gets hurt. We have to talk our way into his comfort zone and hope Lily comes through.”

“She will,” Sam said, but the worry he had for her clouded his judgement. He did not like the burden they’d laid on her but if this took care of the demon they could live the rest of their lives however they wanted… and it was worth a try. Besides, he and Lana were on the front lines… it could start and end with them.

Finally, Lana and Sam reached the front door. Lana looked up to Sam and they held eyes for a moment:  _ it was now or never.  _

But then, the front door creaked open on its own. They were in too deep to turn back now, so Lana pushed on the broad wood of the door and stepped into the quiet home with Sam at her heels. 

“Alright, we know you’re here! We know you’re waiting for us. We need to talk,” Lana called when she made it into the great room. The smell of decay wafted from somewhere nearby: the dead owners Lily mentioned. 

“Well I think that’s a great idea,” a familiar voice sounded. The front door slammed shut again and floorboards creaked as a dark figure approached them and manifested in the dim light of the great room, “So much to discuss — my prodigal daughter has returned… and with her, my best creation. If I’d known I might have prepared a little something — but you have found your dear old Daddy empty handed, I’m afraid,” his yellow eyes glinted in the yellowed light. 

“Don’t worry,” Lana started, remaining connected to her powers, “We won’t be staying long.”

**Across the Lot  
** When Dean and Lily hit the lot, they were met with the same sight of a dimly lit house in the distance. Lily stopped dead, her hand grabbing onto Dean’s arm which stopped him too, “What is it?” he asked, barely able to stop moving — he was still too far from Lana and her insane plan for comfort. If they all lived through this he was going to kill both Lana and Sam, resurrect them and kick their asses. 

“Dean, that’s it, he’s there,” she said, confirming their greatest hope and greatest fear all at once.

“Fan-tastic,” Dean said with a harsh cynicism. He pulled out his own pistol and pushed onward, Lily following as quick as she could. Her finger traced the trigger guard again and again. 

“Now I’m going to do my best to get you a clear shot,” Dean said, his voice dropping low as they neared the house, “The minute you think you have it you pull that trigger and blast this sonuvabitch back to hell….”

“Yeah,” Lily replied quietly, holding the gun upwards and pulled back against her chest. She had one shot. Sure, they had a couple bullets but once she pulled that trigger she either killed him — or she missed and Azazel gained control. 

She couldn’t miss. The lives of everyone she loved depended on her. They crept up to a back window and peered in. It was hard to see but they could figure out which part of the house their counterparts were in and followed the sound of voices, remaining in stealth mode as they crouched alongside the house.

Finally, they found a window that gave them a view of Sam and Lana. 

“I don’t see him,” Dean murmured, although he knew that couldn’t be right — Lana and Sam were tensed, focused on something he just couldn’t see. 

“He’s here,” Lily confirmed. The feeling was overwhelming. Her mind flashed back to Lana and how she had moved that table — how she had stopped them from following immediately with the power of her mind and the ability that stemmed from her demon-side. Lily knew that in order for Lana to do such a thing, it must have taken practice, focus. It made her feel ashamed — Lily hadn’t practiced at anything. She’d never tried to become stronger or better at her ability — having it around the boys always made her weak or something to be coddled and protected but… what an asset she would be now if she had honed in on something…  _ anything _ . If they lived through this, she was going to have to do a little research of her own.

Lily and Dean were here to try and stop something from happening, but Lana and Sam felt as though they had to do this and yet Azazel was biding his time. He had them tense and worried, but he also had them wondering if maybe they really had gone into this and it wasn’t the right thing to do. They never should have done that to Lily and Dean and they knew that, but this had just seemed like the best way for not all of them to have to be in the same place at the same time until they were ready.

“Why are you doing this?” Sam found himself asking him.

Azazel shrugged his shoulders. “It’s fun, my boy. Are you not having fun?”

“No, I am not,” Sam responded honestly, tensing more when Lana took a step toward Azazel and his eyes were right on her.

“Careful, Princess, you think I can’t see you?” Azazel asked her, tilting his head. “You didn’t bring the whole team with you. You really should have.”

Lana shook her head. “We couldn’t do that.”

“Don’t you trust me?” Azazel asked, but he knew the question before he was met with silence. “You see, my dear, you think I don’t know what’s going on. You think that I don’t know you and the company that you travel with…”

He only paused to use his fingers to motion at Sam, who was flung against the nearest wall, Lana caught off guard and then pinned to one as well. Azazel smirked as he took a couple of steps toward them, and Lana was suddenly very glad that Dean and Lily had the gun. They had the means to end this, and she and Sam were the bait. Sure, they could get hurt here, but Azazel  _ needed _ them. What worried her  _ and _ Sam, was that Azazel did not really need Dean, and suddenly Lana wished that he wouldn’t show.

“I saw you and Dean in the diner after I left. That boy’s crazy for you and I don’t blame him--my blood pumping through your veins? You’re a powerful specimen,” Azazel beamed at her.

Lana scoffed, not liking being restrained and out of focus. “He thinks I’m cute. I got that from Mom.”

“You’re not wrong: your mother was quite the looker,” Azazel admitted, beaming at her. “What I mean, however, is no matter what you did to leave them behind, he won’t leave you here with me. Boy’s dumb enough to get himself killed for you. Where is that going to leave you? Without Lover Boy to lean on? Your purpose in all of this is so much bigger than shacking up with a hunter with stunted feelings. You could be a  _ legend _ .”

“I don’t want to be a legend!” Lana shot back, but even she knew that was a half truth.

She wanted to wipe that smirk off of her father’s face, especially when Sam suddenly got a look on his face as he looked between them. These little tastes of power she had been getting from practicing were adding up each time, and feeling powerful in a moment of self sacrifice, had her almost where Azazel wanted her. Lana liked the idea of power, but even Sam knew that it would  _ never _ come at the expense of Dean. She loved him too much to let anything happen to him, even if it meant having enough power to save them all.

“You want power,” Azazel smiled at her. “I can help you get it.”

“No,” Sam said firmly, shaking his head. “No.”

Azazel looked at him and laughed. “No? You think you have a chance at stopping her? You have untapped potential too, my boy--all of my psychic children do--but a bonafide half demon? Oh, you don’t know the people that would love to get their hands on her. She’s raw and untrained, but she could change the hierarchy of Heaven and Hell as we know it.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Lana tried, but she knew he was doing this on purpose.

She had been so worried about  _ Lily _ being the one that he would use feelings against, but she was falling into his own trap because he had no reason to lie. Was that her fate? Was she simply bound to fall down this rabbit hole, even if it was in the name of good? The more her father opened up his mouth to speak, the more that she worried that really was putting all of them in danger just being here. After all, he had been watching them, and it wasn’t  _ just _ because of a prophecy.

“It’s not. What’s going on here is so above your paygrade. If only your mother had let me teach you when you were little,” Azazel clicked his tongue and shook his head. “You could be ready now and all focus would be on Sam and Lily. We’d be farther along than we are now, but I didn’t find you in time.”

Sam shook his head. “No, Florence was always a step ahead of you.”

“Sometimes ten,” Azazel admitted with a shrug. “Couldn’t rightly dispose of her though. She gave me  _ you _ , Princess. What if I needed her for another miracle?”

“Now you’re just being gross,” Lana told him angrily. “My mother scared the shit out of you, that’s why you possessed that guy and slept with her. She got way too close and you had to throw her off your scent. You took advantage.”

Azazel shook his head. “Advantage? It was all consensual.”

“Loophole--she didn’t know he was possessed,” Lana shot back, but even she knew she was grasping at straws.

There had been nothing that would have made Florence taken advantage of. He’d played his part of charming bar patron and he and Florence had had a night of passion, and Lana wanted to make it out like some devilish scheme, but he was just buying himself some time. He hadn’t known that Florence was going to get pregnant. He hadn’t known that anything would come of it, he just needed her distracted, and he’d been oddly fascinated with her the whole time she was hunting him down. It was satisfying for him in the end too, to get to indulge instead of focusing on his psychic kid plan.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were stalling,” Azazel smiled before he shrugged his shoulders. “Or maybe you don’t want to hear more about Sammy’s part in all of this? You don’t want to know all about the beautiful child of Hell that they’ll create?”

Sam shook his head. “We know that you want it to happen, so we won’t let it.”

“You won’t be able to help yourself,” Azazel waved off his words, making Sam think that he had already put some plan in motion, but what? It wasn’t like he could just lock Sam and Lily in a room and wait for them to bang. “You and Lily are bonded together. You’re a bond that cannot be broken--even by betrayal. Your love will always find a way, which would be sweet, I suppose, if I wasn’t simply after your child.”

“Am I doomed to that too?” Lana found herself asking suddenly.

Sam was deep in thought anyway, but even though she thought that she was being selfish, she needed to know. She had his blood running through her veins and she had always thought perhaps one day she’d be a mother. If it meant having demonic children, however, then perhaps she shouldn’t procreate. Perhaps she and Dean should be more careful--not that he’d cared now. After she and Sam had walked out that door, she was pretty certain that him even speaking to her again would be a long shot.

Still, she needed to know.

“Will you have a demonic child?” Azazel asked her. “Are you worried Hell will take you too? They would, as a leader, but I don’t know the logistics of a half demon child procreating--it has never been done. Lover Boy won’t make it long enough for you to find out any time soon.”

“You touch him and I will end you,” Lana replied firmly, narrowing her eyes at him. “I will.”

Azazel shook his head. “You aren’t strong enough for that yet, Princess. And if you were, you would have done it already,” he gave her a wink. He was smart, savvy, powerful, and smug. His particular combination of evil was the reason they had been unable to do away with him yet. The reason he had been able to go on for so long torturing all of them, killing their loved ones, and keeping them on the road in a constant search. 

He continued because there was nothing he loved more than the sound of his own voice and a rapt audience, “Now, I know what you’re thinking!—“ someone give this guy a gameshow, “Why lure you here, talk your heads off…” he chuckled at the metaphor. He approached Sam and invaded his personal space to get up close as he spoke, “…what, only to let you go on into the night?” he laughed, “Still plotting to take me down before any of you have fulfilled your destinies?” 

He turned around and sauntered back to Lana who was fighting her best to undo his hold on her but he was right: she wasn’t strong enough yet. Every inch she gained was immediately revoked by some unseen force, like drowning in the ocean and the waves push you down and down and you don’t know which way is up, “It’s true! You are my best entertainment and my greatest creations…” he looked over Lana’s face, reaching out his hand to touch her face, “But you never fail to have something I want… quite amazing, really.” 

“Yeah? What’s that? A better hobby?” Lana shot back. It was weak but she would need some slack — being pinned against the wall was draining her and her mind was split between focusing on Azazel and learning his plans, and hoping Dean was far, far away. 

“You know,” Azazel squeezed his fist together which made Lana cry out in great pain. Like when his fist clenched some unseen force gripped her entire body in a vice and wouldn’t let go. Sam yelled for him to stop but Azazel would not listen, “I’ll admit — there are times I wish I could just — oh! — squeeze the hunter out of you and make this easier on myself…” he watched as Lana’s face screwed up in pain, “But you know what they say about taking the easy road—“ 

That’s when the door to the house kicked open and two shots rang out without hesitation, “Get away from her, you sonuvabitch!” Dean yelled. The bullets did nothing but get Azazel to turn around and Dean knew that. 

“Well, well, isn’t this a party!” Azazel exclaimed and with one wave of his hand, Dean was sent flying against the nearest wall with a great CRACK. He groaned, his gun scattering across the floor. 

“NO!” Lana called out. The pain had dissipated but she couldn’t move herself or help Dean who was vulnerable and in grave danger, “Get. Away. From. Him.!” Lana demanded, fighting harder than she ever had to free herself.

Azazel held up a hand in her direction, “I’ll get back to you, sweetheart,” he told her as he approached Dean with a smirk, “I’ll admit, I was wondering when you would show — couldn’t decide how quickly you would burst in like a cowboy but…” Azazel held up his hand and Dean’s pistol materialized, “I am surprised you tried this useless thing,” he waved it around a bit for show, “I have to say — I think I’m disappointed.” 

“Good,” Dean managed through excruciating pain. 

Azazel gave a condescending scoff and with merely the flick of his brow, Dean’s head crashed back into the wall and he cried out in great pain, “You did this to yourself, you know. Your little ‘family’ — I need each one of them, at least for now, but you?” 

In some crazy bout of strength and emotion, Lana broke momentarily free from whatever held her and started forward on her father. He was threatening Dean’s life which hung by the thinnest of threads in his hands. She managed to grab onto her father and throw him away from Dean. 

“Brilliant!” He called in excitement, righting himself almost immediately, “Messy but oh-so powerful nonetheless!” he hit Dean again with his power and Dean screamed in agony as blood began seeping from his eyes, nose, and mouth. 

“If you kill him you will never, NEVER have me, do you hear me?!” Lana called, trying to muster something up to fight him. To stop him.

“Mmmm… wanna bet?” he smirked. Another flick of his wrist and Dean fell to the ground with a great thud. 

Then, with cosmically unfortunate timing — Lily made her entrance through the open front door. She had the pistol poised and ready to shoot him but Lana had escaped his hold and the minute Lily crossed the threshold, Azazel grabbed onto Lana and held her in front of him, “Oh! Well isn’t this a juicy turn of events! Color me shocked: the big kids let you play with fire…”

“Shoot him!” Lana told her friend but Lily hesitated — Azazel held her too close and if she missed it was likely this gun obliterated Lana into nothing, there was no way to no, “Lily, shoot him!”

“Oh, come on. You and I both know, my sweet, that she won’t risk the life of her  _ BFF… _ ” Azazel taunted. 

Lily remained poised, although on the inside she was falling to pieces. Dean was dying to her left, Sam was trapped to her right and Lana was being used as a human shield to her demonic father who had them all right where he wanted them. 

“Lily do it!” Lana called, fighting to get away from Azazel but he was focused on her now — and she couldn’t break free. 

Lily cocked the gun, “Let her go,” she said with as much force and power she could muster. 

Azazel smirked and then made a face as if he was considering her offer, “Hmm… I could be convinced… but we’re going to do a little trade-sies. That gun —“ with the snap of his fingers Lana, Sam, and Dean cried out in excruciating pain, “—for your family.” 

“You won’t kill them — you need us,” Lily returned, taking a step forward, praying to whatever God may exist for a clear shot.

As quick as it started, they all stopped screaming and the pain was gone. 

Azazel smirked, “You always were a smart one,” He winked, “But I’d give that a B-, little girl…” his eyes flickered to Dean who began to writhe in great pain. The sound of bones cracking turned Lily’s stomach, “DEAN!” She screamed, running to his side, trying to stop whatever unseen force was torturing him, “Stop - you STOP!” Lily screamed at Azazel.

“Oh I will… for.that.gun.” Azazel replied, still keeping Lana firmly in place in front of him as Lana struggled and cried and fought and cursed to free herself. 

Unable to see a way out of this — knowing the minute she’d walked through the door their plan had been foiled — Lily knew she had no choice. In agony, she slid the Colt across the floor and in a flash — Azazel picked it up and brandished it around, “I can always count on my children,” he winked. Dean had stopped writhing in agony but he was motionless before Lily in a growing pool of blood. “See you soon,” Azazel was gone in an instant. Sam and Lana were released from their holds. They had done everything Azazel wanted them to, down to the very end.

Everything that came next felt like an absolute blur, Lana going straight for Dean, who had internal bleeding, and blood was leaking from the corner of his mouth. He never should have been here, but it did make Lana feel a bit better to know that in a life or death situation, she could get out of her father’s grip. If she practiced it enough, perhaps she’d figure out how to send him to Hell and then things that were set into motion could be stopped, but she couldn’t even properly think about that.

Sam could move now that Azazel was gone, and he moved toward Lily, but she stepped out of his reach and went to check on Dean as well. For once, there was almost a fight between the girls over who should be by Dean’s side at the moment, but even Lily in all of her anger, couldn’t find it in her to tell Lana to leave him alone. Instead, she found herself surprised when Lana handed Lily the keys that she had gotten out of Dean’s pocket.

“Can you walk?” Lana asked, far too focused on Dean to care about what had happened with the Colt. Dean was bleeding and he was broken and bruised, and she couldn’t let him die on her. Somewhere, deep down, she knew that Dean dying would only send her down the exact path that her father wanted. “Hey...baby, look at me…”

Even upset, Dean was too wounded to be angry. “I can’t…”

“You’re losing too much blood,” Lana felt the tears stinging her eyes as she shook her head, trying not to look at the blood on her hands. “He needs a hospital right now,” Lana said quickly, Sam swooping in to pick Dean up. “Lily’s driving.”

Lily looked at the keys in her hands as the events of it all truly started to shake her to her core, and she was only shaken out of it when Lana started to move toward the door. It was clear that whatever she needed wasn’t done, and yet Lily couldn’t find it within her to stop her from going out the door. The immediate need was getting Dean into the car and to the hospital.

“YOU COWARD!” Lana screamed up to the sky, tears streaming down her face. “THAT’S ALL YOU WANTED?!”

She was trying to calm herself, to try and focus to see if there was any way that she could do what Azazel had, but it was no use, and she turned when she heard the Impala doors opening. Lily was getting into the driver’s seat, and Lana moved toward the car even though out of all of them, she knew she was the least welcome right now. She got into the backseat with Dean, pressing her hands against what felt like a bleeding wound, wanting to keep pressure on it as Sam got into the front passenger seat.

“Told you this was a shit plan,” Dean tried, needing to know he could still bicker through the searing pain shooting through him. “Split up?”

Sam nodded at him. “Yes, okay? I know...I know we split up.”

“You  _ forced _ us to split up,” Lily pointed out angrily, the first word she’d said to them as she drove the Impala out onto the main road.

The hospital wasn’t that far away, but would they make it in time? Even if the GPS said it was only 10 minutes, a lot could happen in 10 minutes. Dean could bleed out in 10 minutes, or hemorrhage. All because they had split up out of some need to save each other. A need that had instead, played right into Azazel’s hands in the first place, and now where did they go from here? Could Lily and Dean even trust them anymore?

“We thought we were the best bait,” Sam tried, but Lily held a hand up to cut him off.

“You went through with a plan that was only 50% agreed upon and that’s not how we are supposed to do things!” Lily felt her voice rising. “If I had done the same thing, I would never hear the end of it! You were wrong, Sam!”

Sam took a deep breath. “Dean never should have been there…”

“That’s your take away from all of this?!” Lily asked, feeling angry tears splash her cheeks. “We never should have tried to do something that we weren’t  _ all _ on board with!”

“I know you’re mad no matter what we say,” Lana started.

“You’re damn right!” Lily responded loudly.

“But we know we were wrong,” Lana continued, shaking her head. “We were never going to be strong enough to take him. None of us. We haven’t practiced anything. No powers, nothing. We don’t even know everything that he can do, and we certainly don’t know what it means for you two to be psychic. We were never going to win…”

Lily took that in and nodded, knowing it was the truth. “All the more reason to never go with a plan that isn’t agreed on by at least three out of the four of us.” She glanced in the rear view mirror at Dean as Lana turned her attention back to him too, Lana’s hands on his face as his eyes closed. “Dean…”

“Baby? Come on, you can’t sleep. You gotta stay awake,” Lana tried, but she felt more tears as Sam told Lily to drive a little faster, but it couldn’t be helped.

No matter what speed they were going, they couldn’t have seen the giant semi truck that then plowed right into the side of the car, glass shattering all around them as airbags went off, and cries from the three conscious hunters, rang out into the night air. The sound of crunching metal and the feeling of glass slicing across their skin, caused everyone in the car to pass out, blood everywhere, pain coursing through them.


	26. The Price of Life

**A Little While Later  
** Lana was the first person roused, smelling the oil and the burning and the blood in the air, and she let out a gasping scream that caused Lily to wake up next. Lana could feel a piece of car stabbing her in the side of her abdomen, and she let out a sound as she pulled it out of herself, Lily feeling like something was crushing her leg.

“Sam?” Lily found herself asking first.

It didn’t matter how angry she had been before, she could hear Lana, but Sam wasn’t moving and she had to make sure that he was alright. She loved him more than anything, and she struggled to get her leg free as the very possessed truck driver got down from his truck. He was making his way over to them when Lily tried to reach over to wake Sam up, Lana managing to crawl out of her seat in the back. Dean was still unconscious and now doubly needed a hospital, and she wasn’t in her right mind.

She could  _ feel _ her eyes flash as she got up to her feet, ignoring the gash in her side as she came face to face with an older man in a trucker hat with black eyes. He was smirking, like he was here to make sure he had finished the job and cemented whatever damage that Azazel had begun to cause, and Lana shook her head, holding up her hand, eyes as yellow as the demon that had helped create her.

“You can’t have them…” Lana told him, trying to ignore the pain as she focused her last ditch effort.

The demon felt the hold on him, and the smirk disappeared, his movements hindered by whatever it was that she could do but that wasn’t good either. Now other demons would know for sure that Azazel had a daughter, and even as the blood trickled from her nose, she held him there.

“Go to Hell,” she said, saying the Latin incantation as she held the demon in place, letting go only to send him to Hell and away from her family.

It took too much out of her, however, and she fell to her knees, managing to tell Lily to call 911 before she also passed out, right by the car, the trucker rousing, now demon free.

Lily’s fingers were thick and clumsy. Calling 911 was near impossible. Every muscle in her body ached, one of her eyes closed as blood trickled into it from some unseen head injury. 

“911 what’s your emergency?”

“Help - please help us, there’s been an accident—!” Lily cried into the phone. The night was dark, too dark. The truck driver had begun yelling out ‘what have I done?’ and pacing around frantic without direction. The operator assured Lily they were sending help but Lily was not listening any longer — her family laid around her, bleeding onto cold pavement. All because she didn’t take her shot. 

“Sam!” She cried out desperately, trying to rouse him. Her hands pressed to his face, her fingers brushing blood and broken glass out of a scrape across his cheek, “Sam look at me!” She begged. She looked back to Lana and Dean — she couldn’t help them all. She was just one woman, so small, so helpless. She leaned down and pressed her ear to Sam’s chest — his heart was beating, he had a chance! 

That’s when she noticed the blood pool beneath Dean. She rushed over to his side, pushing at his clothes, trying to find the wound, “Dean!? Dean!! Dean!” She screamed over and over again but he was completely unresponsive, “Dean, come on, don’t do this!” She cried. Tears and blood obscured her vision as she removed her coat and pressed it to just one of the serious bleeding wounds she could find. 

“Lana!” She called to the woman a few feet away, “Lana wake up, okay?! I need your help! Lana I can’t do this without you!” She pleaded to no response. 

Finally, sirens called to her in the distance and in a blur of time she was surrounded by first responders: EMTs, the fire department, police... 

“Move aside, ma’am you did the best you could,” the EMTs moved Lily aside to hoist Dean onto a board, tossing her bloody jacket onto the pavement. 

The world spun around her — she turned around as they checked Sam’s vitals, readying a gurney for him too. As she rushed over, she found Sam stirring slightly, just enough to let her know he was still with her, “Sam!” She cried out but before she could reach him, an EMT blocked her path, “Ma’am calm down, we need to get you checked out, okay? You’re bleeding...” he started with his best bedside manner, a flashlight in one gloved hand. 

She pushed by him with a guttural cry, “NO! Sam!” She continued forward but a second EMT came to the aid of the first and they began to physically coerce her towards a waiting bus while throwing out medical terms about her visible injuries. 

Lana was being taken away as well. Flashing lights in every direction and then the sound of a helicopter. Lily looked up, pushing a flashlight out of her face to understand what was going on: they were airlifting Dean. 

“He can’t go alone!” Lily called out desperately, “We can’t split up! Please he can’t go alone!” Lily dodged the EMTs as she ran across the concrete and broken glass to where they were hooking Dean to a basket. 

“Ma’am...” one of the firemen caught her as she reached for Dean who remained unresponsive, “It’s okay, he’s going right to the hospital. He’s going to get help...” Although she might be little she was fierce and Lily fought the fireman so hard he had to get assistance from the EMTs she’d already dodged, “We can’t split up! We can’t split up, please!” 

But Dean was whisked away despite her cries and he was followed fast by an ambulance holding Lana. 

Lily knew this was the end of her being so weak. If she had just tried at all... if she’d gotten out of her own head for even a minute, maybe they wouldn’t be there... but suddenly, in her guilt, she felt sleepy. The EMTs stuck her with a sedative and were finally able to coax her on to a gurney as she began to calm down and fall into a state of ease. 

“Please...” Lily grabbed onto one of the EMTs arms. The woman was in and out of a blurry vision — every sound sounded like it was underwater but she held fast to the woman’s wrist, “It’s all my fault but we can’t —- we have to stay — together...” She managed as her tongue seemed to grow heavy.

The female technician didn’t understand but she nodded with care, “Of course, just stay calm. It’s going to be okay,” she explained to the distraught woman as she attempted to clean a wound on her forehead to get a look at the damage beneath. 

**The Hospital  
** The quiet Nebraskan hospital was awoken by a rush of car accident victims. Dean was straight into surgery that would last through the morning. 

“I can’t get a blood-type,” one of the nurses spoke of Lana, “Something must be wrong with the tests!” 

“Then prep O-, she’s lost too much to risk it,” a doctor returned as they worked to wake Lana from her strange coma and work on the wound at her stomach. Lana was being pushed into surgery — they believed the stomach wound and loss of blood had caused her to lose consciousness - but little did they know...

Sam was the conscious one now. By the time they wheeled him into the emergency room he was trying to jump the gurney, “I’m fine!” He called. In truth, he hurt like hell, but he’d had worse.

“Sir you may have a concussion, we need to run some tests,” one of the nurses tried, attempting to get him to lay back down as they wheeled the bed into its place so they might hook Sam up to the EKG machine and an IV drip.

“No, tell me where they are...” Sam returned. He was much larger than the staff around him and he pushed off the bed into a standing position. 

“Sir, we advise that you—“ 

“I knowingly reject treatment, alright?!” Sam managed to gargle out some medical-lawyer-mumbo-jumbo, “Where are they? Dean! Lily?! Lana?!” Sam began to call, but the ER doors opened and answered his call as Lily was wheeled in, unconscious. 

“Lily!?!” Sam called as they wheeled her by for her own spot to be checked out. However, little did Sam know that she was okay — her so-called coma was just a little morphine cocktail that had kept Lily from physically chasing the other ambulances, “What’s happened to her?” 

“Sir— are you immediate family?” One of them asked as they wheeled Lily into a room in order to hook her up to an IV of hydration and meds.

“Yes!” Sam exclaimed, knowing legally he was lying but he said nothing but the truth, “How is she?” He asked, finally gathering himself enough to speak to a nurse at a human-inside-voice-level. 

“She’ll be okay,” the nurse replied, “The EMTs had to sedate her, she was pretty distraught. They believe her injuries are minor.”

Sam nodded, watching the IV being set into Lily’s arm, “And my brother — my brother, Dean?” 

The nurse gave a shrug, “If he’s the other young man that came in on the flight I don’t know — he’s in surgery. Look, I have to go,” the nurse got paged away.

Without asking for permission, Sam pushed into Lily’s room.

**Lana’s OR  
** Lana could hear the screeching of rubber against pavement, the crash of metal, and the shattering of glass. Louder and louder until — 

Lana awoke with a start. She startled the doctors around her who worked to sew up her side. She began panicking inside her mask but the nurses worked with steady hands to calm her and keep her still, “Ma’am, it’s okay! It’s okay you’re at the hospital. You’re going to be fine.”

“Where are they...” Lana asked weakly into her oxygen mask, “Where are they? I have to—“

“Ma’am just stay calm... we’re going to help you.”

Lana was woozy at best, and she could feel each glide of the needle as they kept stitching her up, a hand weakly moving to push the mask off of her face. The nurses were not okay with that and started to push more medicine into her IV, but Lana was quicker and pulled the IV out of her arm with a shake of her head, much to the rest of the doctors’ alarm.

“I’m fine, just finish stitching and tell me where the others are,” she said, trying so hard to make the room stop spinning. “These are some...fine drugs…”

She was out of it, she and all the doctors around her knew that, but the doctor sewing her up had just finished, and he was going to need to convince her to put the IV back in. After all, she’d just been in a car accident, and he hadn’t ever seen someone on his table just wake up and rip the IV out. That was definitely new, and considering he still didn’t know her blood type, he was a little concerned.

“Ma’am, everyone is being treated,” the doctor tried calmly. “We really need to keep fluids in you.”

“I just need to see Dean,” Lana shook her head, feeling tears prick the corner of her eyes. “Please, is he okay? He lost a lot of blood. I barely got out of the car…”

The doctor sighed, taking pity on her as a nurse moved slowly around her. “Which one?”

“The one that isn’t a giant,” Lana found herself saying, picking up on the nurse nearing her other arm. “You stick my other arm and you’re going to wish that you hadn’t…”

**Other Plane - Hospital  
** The unfortunate side effect of being so small, was that the doctors knew just how to keep Lily sedated, and the unfortunate side effect of losing all that blood and then being in a car accident and losing more, was that Dean found himself in hospital pants and a comfy tee, but nothing felt right. He was running around trying to get the attention of the nurses, but no one was paying attention to him. That was when he found himself in Lily’s room, Sam by her bedside, and he nodded.

“Oh thank God,” Dean managed, but his words didn’t even fall on their ears.

Sam was holding Lily’s hand, watching over her, and when Dean tried to say his name, he realized that something was very,  _ very _ wrong.

“How is she?” Lana asked, appearing in the doorway looking weak and disheveled.

Sam looked over at her. “Oh my God--I thought you were in surgery. She’s fine, she’s...the one of us least hurt, honestly. At least physically.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear it. They’d like it if I was in a hospital bed with a saline drip, but I can’t. Have you seen Dean yet?” Lana asked quickly.

“They haven’t told me anything yet,” Sam admitted, shaking his head.

Lana nodded at him. “Then I’m going to find him.”

Sam looked her over. “You need to lay down an--”

“--no! No, I just…” her voice cracked and she shook her head. “No, this is  _ my _ fault. I have to find him and I have to make sure he’s okay. I won’t survive losing him, Sammy...I won’t.”

Part of Dean’s anger at her melted away when he saw her like this, determined to find him and owning up to her part in all of it. He was still mad, but he was also clearly barely hanging on to life, and he wanted to know where his body was too. So, he followed her as she went to the nurse’s station, smirking a little at his girl: she was definitely something else when she was determined.

“The man that was airlifted,” Lana said, taking a breath, “I need to know what room he’s in.”

The nurse looked at her. “I’m sorry but I can--”

“Oh, you can do anything you want to, you just think you have to follow hospital policy or whatever, but I need to know where he is,” Lana told her, trying so hard not to let her eyes flash in anger.

Something was off with her, she knew that much, but it was worse that she couldn’t seem to figure out where that part was wrong, stopped and the part that was right, began. All she knew was she was going to see Dean if it was the last thing that she did.

“Are you immediate family?” the nurse asked her.

Lana didn’t mind lying. “I’m his wife, now  _ where the Hell is he _ ?”

“That’s my girl,” Dean said proudly. No amount of being mad at her could stop the swell of pride in his chest. “You should tell her, because she might hurt you.”

Arguing with the woman that pulled her IV out of her arm in the OR wasn’t what she felt like she was paid to do right now, and she heaved a sigh before she found the room for her. After telling it to her, Lana thanked her and went to find him, finding the tears leaking out when she saw that he was hooked up to a machine that helped him to breathe, and she shook her head as she pulled a chair up to the side of his bed and took his hand.

“It should be me…” Lana whispered, kissing his fingertips and shaking her head. “Baby, I’m so sorry. This was all my fault. I never should have done a plan you didn’t like.”

Dean nodded at her. “Damn straight.”

“More importantly, I never should have used my powers against you,” Lana admitted softly, running her lips along her knuckles. “How am I going to help us get through this? Everything just keeps getting worse and worse. Just...come back to me, okay?  _ Please _ ?”

**Lily’s Hospital Room  
** By the time that Lily was roused from her medicinal sleep, she was still groggy. “Sam?”

She could barely make him out, but she felt his hand around hers, and it was nice to know that he was at least alright, and she was awake. Sam hadn’t left her side, and he still needed to figure out where his brother was, but he could tend to Lily because Dean was in good hands with Lana. She would come and tell them where he was, and would be the first to cuss the nurses out if they said or did something she didn’t like.

“It’s good to see you awake,” Sam smiled at her, kissing her hand. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got hit by a truck,” Lily replied as she drew a hand to her head, finding a bandage near where her hair met her skin. The room slowly came into focus and Sam did not find her joke amusing but she couldn’t help herself, her world was still upside down, “Wait—“

She sat up quickly, finding the IV in her hand and Sam alone in the room, “Where are there? Where’s Lana and Dean?” Lily asked, getting ready to take the IV off of her hand but Sam placed his hand back onto hers and stopped her from doing so, “Lana is — uh, she’s fine. She’s by Dean’s side.”

“And Dean?” Lily asked, her voice cracking as her stomach sank.

Sam managed a half-shrug of his shoulders, “We don’t know.” 

Lily felt like she was being hit by a truck all over again. If Dean didn’t make it — she knew she was 100% responsible and she wasn’t sure she knew how to handle a weight like that.

“Hey, but it’s going to be okay, right?” Sam squeezed her hand, “Lana’s with him and you know she’s going to get him the best damn treatment this hospital’s ever given, right?” he went into protector mode and shoved down his own fears and emotions over Dean to play the optimist for the girl in front of him. He wasn’t unaware that his half-cocked plan could have killed her too. 

“I told them —“ Lily started, remembering bits and pieces of their crash, “I told them we shouldn’t split up — I told them…” 

Sam felt that familiar pang of guilt hit his chest and he nodded. He pressed his hand to her cheek and brushed her tears away with his thumb, “And we didn’t…we’re still together. Just gotta give Dean a minute to pull through, you know how stubborn he can be. Probably going to make a big show of it to prove that he was right.” 

Lily’s lower lip quivered but she nodded, “Yeah,” she said, unable to do anything but go with Sam’s optimism on Dean’s unknown condition. 

**Dean’s Room  
** Lana stayed with Dean for a long while — after she had finished saying what she needed to, she went quiet. She looked him over, straightened his pillow, fixed his tubes and wires and took her seat, holding his hand ever-vigilant. Finally, Lana had risen from her chair and kissed his scraped forehead with a “I’ll be right back”, resigning to return to Sam and fill him in on the little progress Dean had made. 

Unable to help himself, Dean followed her, still unsure how to even get a message across that he was right here and he wasn’t going anywhere. She might be stubborn and headstrong and reckless but Dean wasn’t going to leave this life without her. 

He followed her back to Lily’s room and he found Sam and Lily were both awake and eager to speak with Lana. Despite Lily’s anger towards Lana, she needed to know Dean was okay and no matter what fight they were in — she needed Lana to be okay too. 

“He’s — alive. Still in a coma,” Lana managed with the strongest voice she could, “I know the doctor’s aren’t optimistic but I think they’re full of it,” she added, causing Dean to smirk.

“Atta girl. Those doctor’s don’t know I ain’t going nowhere.”

Lily looked Lana over with a creased brow and Lana couldn’t help but ask as Lily’s response to her information seemed  _ off _ , “What?” Lana asked, playing with the hem of the blanket at the end of Lily’s bed nervously, “Don’t tell me you believe the doctors…” She tried a joke but couldn’t manage the accompanying laugh so it fell short. 

“No — no, of course not,” Lily replied quickly, “It’s just…do you feel that?” 

Both Sam and Lana looked worriedly at each other, “Feel what?” Sam asked with great concern, ready to hit the button for the nurse without hesitation. 

“Uh —“ Lily tried putting into words and managed half a smile when her only description was, “Lily a buzzcut and sarcasm?” 

Lana looked at her, “Dean?” she started, for that description could be no one else, “What are you talking about?” 

“When you said the doctor’s didn’t know anything — it was like… pride and an intense sexual attraction radiating from — somewhere,” Lily said, “Just like — Dean.” 

Dean straightened up, “Oh hell, yeah Munchkin, we’re in business!” he clapped his hands together. If Lily could feel him maybe he could get a message to them after all, “Your weirdo powers finally come in handy, who knew?!”

Lana’s eyes widened and she looked around again, “He’s here?”

“Right here, baby!” Dean said, too elated to deal with the true emotions between them. For now: he just needed to get back to his family.

Lily laughed and nodded, “Yeah, yeah he’s here — and he’s… really excited. Just like when you take your shirt off — like that level.” 

“Oh, come on!” Dean exclaimed but she couldn’t  _ hear _ him, he’d have to remember that but Lily could feel him as usual and that would be enough.

“Dean?” Lana started, “Don’t pull any funny stuff, alright? We need to know how to get you back. Help us get you back,” she said. If things weren’t so dire she definitely would have told him he’s not allowed to touch her ass while he’s a ghost but that was for another time. 

“Oh, Lanni, I’m trying,” Dean sighed. He looked around but he found himself unable to materialize enough to grab anything or hold onto a physical object, “Hang on—“ as Dean attempted to find a way to respond to his family he caught sight of a ghostly figure roaming down the hallway. Dean, being Dean, couldn’t help himself. He followed the corpse-like figure until he saw it made a sharp left: _ into his own room. _

“Oh Hell no!” Dean quickened his pace until he saw the corpse hanging above his body, “Hey! You get the hell away from me!” he charged forward. 

**Lily’s Room  
** “Dean?” Lana tried, “C’mon you can do it — you gotta give us something, anything… _ please _ .”

“Wait — he’s gone,” Lily said with a worried brow.

“Gone?” Sam asked. Lily shrugged, she didn’t know how this worked or what their connection was but it was gone. 

Then a bunch of doctors and nurses rushed down the hallway and the three stopped cold. Sam stood but Lana held up her hand, “I’ll go, stay together.” Lana rushed after the group and followed the sounds of beeping machines and was unable to make it into Dean’s room because he was surrounded by doctors and nurses calling for a crash cart. Lana’s stomach sank, “C’mon baby just…just a little longer. We’re going to get you back…”

It was hard to watch when the nurses wanted her to stay away, but she just couldn’t take her eyes off of him. Even when the defibulators came out, Lana knew she just had to breathe through it. After what took what she thought was forever, Lana heard them say they got his sinus rhythm back. This was just getting worse and worse, and when she returned to tell Lily and Sam that he was stable for now, Sam came up with a Ouija idea. That would work, but Lana wasn’t sure it was going to be enough. Still, she let Sam get the supplies, and she sat on the edge of Lily’s bed, feeling the tears come. She didn’t want Lily’s pity or any of that, she just needed to say her piece.

“I know I can’t just say that ‘I’m sorry’,” Lana began, looking at her. “I shouldn’t have gotten it in my mind that it was the only way, I just...didn’t want you guys to be involved. I didn’t want you in any more pain, and now Dean is dying, and I have to stop it.”

Lily took a breath. “How are you going to do that?”

“I mean, I ripped my own IV out on the operating table, I think I can figure something out,” Lana teased, but even the little joke didn’t make her actually feel much better. “Mostly I’m sorry that I did that to  _ you _ . I never should have messed up what we have just because I was being stubborn.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” Lily agreed, but it didn’t stop her from taking Lana’s hand. “I’m not fully appeased but...we don’t have time to dwell right now. We have to get Dean out of this.”

Lana nodded and wiped tears away. “I know,” she nodded more, standing up. “Sam had the Impala towed to Bobby’s, but my mother is close. She’s going to pick me up and I’m going to check on it.”

That surprised Lily, because with Dean as a spirit, still not woken up, where was Lana going? Why was she going? It didn’t make sense to Lily that Lana would leave when Dean was  _ still in a coma _ , and suddenly, Lily felt a very familiar emotion surge through Lana that she was trying to suppress, and it made Lily sit up, even though she cringed as she did so.

“You’re not doing it,” Lily said simply.

Lana opened her mouth to lie, but thought better of it. “It’s the only option, Lily.”

“No. I said no more plans that not all of us agree on!” Lily shook her head. “What are you going to do? Make a deal? You  _ know _ that’s not the right call.”

“It’s the  _ only _ call,” Lana protested, looking up when Sam came in.

“I used the Ouija board in his room--he’s hunting a Reaper. It’s after him,” Sam explained quickly, looking between them. “Are you fighting some more?”

Lily nodded as she felt Dean come into the room again. “She’s being  _ reckless _ .”

“What, she hasn’t learned?” Dean asked with a sigh.

“I won’t let him die!” Lana exclaimed, shaking her head. “I  _ have _ to. Don’t you get it? I’m the only one that he’s going to be the most willing to listen to. He has the Colt.”

Sam looked dumbfounded. “Whoa, whoa, whoa--are you talking about summoning your father?”

Dean was concerned as well as the talk unfolded, Lily and Sam immediately starting to try and tell her that she was crazy and it was suicide. Sure, she was his daughter, but he had the Colt--what could she even barter with? Neither of them had quite wrapped their minds around the fact that Azazel really wanted one thing from Lana, and it was an easy enough thing to give him if it meant the man she loved was alive.

“He did this, he can fix this,” Lana protested, taking a breath.

Lily spoke next. “Dean isn’t okay with it and neither am I.”

“Dean doesn’t get a say because he’s in a coma,” Lana replied, chewing on her lip. “I’m sorry, baby, but I will do  _ anything _ to save you.”

“What if he doesn’t care?” Sam asked suddenly, making Lily glare at him.

The fact of the matter was, that Sam was not as opposed to this plan as Lily was, which was what had gotten them all here in the first place. That made Lily annoyed because she didn’t want this to turn into something that would ruin them all again. At the same time, if Lana had a better plan, then maybe she could get on board, but this just felt like trading her life for Dean’s, and that wasn’t a trade that Lily was ready to make.

“She’s not doing it, Sam!” Lily said, and she shook her head as she felt tears come to her eyes when Lana sat on the edge of the bed with her. “We’re not supposed to be separated. Don’t you get that?”

“Lily,” Lana said gently, taking her hand and kissing it, “we always figure it out. We do! You three were fine before I came along, and maybe it’s supposed to--”

“--don’t even try that,” Lily and Dean said at once, but Lily was all that Lana heard.

Lana started crying too and pressed a kiss to Lily’s forehead. “Just let me summon him and ask what he wants.”

“If you summon him, you’re just going to hand yourself over,” Lily protested, but she knew as well as they did that if a Reaper was here naturally, they couldn’t banish it. Dean was in a tough spot, and Lily bit her trembling lip. “I don’t want to lose you. I don’t care how it was before, and I’m still mad but...it’s the  _ four _ of us.”

Honestly, Lana felt that, but she also knew that they had to exhaust every single option, and Lily was already wavering on it. Dean was holding on by a thread, and Azazel had the Colt, so what else could they do? Could Lana sweet talk her father into fixing what he had broken? He had absolutely no need for Dean, so why would he do that? Why would he save Dean when he had practically murdered him?

“Then I go with you,” Lily piped up.

Sam and Lana shook their heads at once. “No.”

“Not at all surprised at how quickly you both agreed to that,” Lily sighed, shaking her head.

“I need you here to help me with Dean,” Sam pointed out to her. “You can feel him and I can’t. How about this: you promise us that you won’t just offer yourself up.”

Lily looked at Lana, noting how she paused. “I like that. You don’t offer yourself up.”

“What if it’s the only way?” Lana asked them slowly.

“You don’t bring it up. You don’t tell him you’ll do it. You see if he can fix it and you call us  _ immediately _ . I am not afraid to tell your mother!” Lily pointed her finger at her.

Oh, Florence would never let Lana do what she was planning to do, so Lana sighed and she agreed to the situation: no offering herself up. She was to summon him and talk to him, and see what it was that he could do.

“In fact, call me while you speak to him,” Lily told her.

Lana sighed and nodded. “Fine. I will call you right before I summon him and keep you on the line.”

Lily didn’t want to agree to  _ any _ of this, but at least this way, she felt like she had a little control of the situation.

**Bobby’s - 3 and a Half Hours Later  
** Bobby also wasn’t thrilled when Lana showed up wanting ingredients to summon a demon. First of all, it was to summon her  _ father _ , and second of all, Lana was in a very obvious mindset when she saw how wrecked the Impala was. Out here, Dean couldn’t interfere, and Florence was pretty livid, but Lana had cried the whole car ride to here and now she was calling Lily as she drew the signs.

“How is Dean?” Lana asked her.

Lily sighed and shook her head. “He’s still in a coma. A little girl died, and the lights have flickered a couple of times. I’m not sure how much time he has left. A Reaper is definitely here.”

“Well everything is in order,” Lana admitted, reciting the Latin and then pausing, hearing only Lily’s breathing on the other line for a moment. “Okay...anticlimactic…”

“Harsh,” came her father’s voice, making her and Lily jump even though Lily wasn’t even there. “Am I interrupting a phone call?”

Lana shook her head. “My insurance policy. I need you to save Dean. You broke him, and now you’re going to fix him.”

“And why would I do that, exactly?” Azazel asked her.

“Because I’m your daughter and I’m asking you nicely?” Lana told him, trying to find more confidence.

“No, no...that’s not how deals work, Princess,” Azazel explained, clicking his tongue. “You give me something that I want, and I give him back.”

Lana swallowed, remembering her promise. “All I want is Dean healed. Full recovery, no coma.”

“Then what are you willing to give me? Lily? I’m sure that’s her listening in,” Azazel chuckled.

“You can’t have her,” Lana shook her head.

This was quickly spiraling out of control, and Azazel knew exactly what he wanted. Dean being hurt and close to death helped him in so many ways, and this was just the icing on the cake. Someone was going to summon him, he just honestly hadn’t expected it to be Lana. However, she  _ did _ have something that he wanted, and with a flick of his hand he tossed the phone from her hands to shatter against the opposite wall, the call dropping. That sent Lily into an automatic panic, and Lana stood there looking at him, trying to take deep breaths.

“Then I get you,” Azazel told her, smirking a little bit. “I already have your best bargaining tool, but there’s something else that I want. You broke through my hold earlier when Lover Boy was hurt. You’ve been practicing.”

Lana nodded slowly. “To hurt  _ you _ .”

“Ouch, words hurt my dear, but that’s just it--you need a teacher,” Azazel pointed out. “So you come with  _ me _ .”

This was  _ exactly  _ what Lily had been afraid of, and Lana knew she had promised not to offer herself up, but the idea was already in her father’s mind. She hadn’t broken her promise, but there was no leaving here when this deal was completed. Lana knew that.

“Why does it have to be you?” Lana asked, knowing she was stalling.

Azazel shrugged his shoulders. “Who better? My blood flows through you. I heal Dean...you come with me.”

That seemed like an easy enough deal to wiggle out of, like the fine print of a legal file, and Lana nodded her head, knowing that all three of them were going to kill her. Hell, Bobby and her mother were going to kill her. None of them were going to be able to accept what was happening, but if she left with him, she wanted to know he’d be okay.

“I have to know Dean is perfectly healed first,” Lana told him, making that her only request. “Please…”


	27. Separated and Broken Hearted

**At the Hospital  
** Lily knew that Lana wouldn’t have just hung up on her, and yet she could  _ feel _ that something was wrong. Suddenly John was there, looking for them, Florence was with Lana and Bobby, and then Sam was calling from the other room saying that Dean was awake. Everything felt like it was happening so fast, and Lily didn’t even know what the damn deal had been. Did Lana keep her promise?

“I need to call Florence,” Lily said hurriedly as the doctors and nurses went to handle all of Dean’s wires and the tube down his throat. “She had better pick up...Flor?”

Lana shook her head. “No, no, it’s me. Dad destroyed my phone. Are you okay? Is Dean okay?”

“He’s up, which means you made a deal!” Lily exclaimed, shaking her head. “What happened?”

“I made him fix it,” Lana replied, taking a deep breath. “You should all come to Bobby’s. There’s no point in me driving all the way there and then you guys coming all the way out.”

Lily nodded, relief washing over her because it sounded like Lana was going to be there when they got there, and that meant that whatever the deal was, it was better than expected. She wanted to say more, but the signal to the call was bad, and the call dropped, Sam coming into her room to get her so she could see Dean. She’d try calling Lana back when she had better news to tell her.

Dean was nearly leaned halfway out of bed by the time Sam returned with Lily.

“How is she?” Dean asked impatiently. He didn’t remember anything from his time on the other side, so he didn’t remember her deal or anything else that had been said. 

“She’s fine, I think,” Lily said as she approached Dean’s bedside, “She’s out at Bobby’s with the Impala, she’s going to meet us there…” 

Dean sunk back a little. His car, his baby… he’d been so worried about Lana when he’d woken he could’ve forgotten… “Alright — well we gotta get one of these yahoos to sign me outta here…” Dean said, grumpy and tired of being the center of attention in a hospital bed. 

“On it,” Lily said, who was still in her own hospital clothes and not signed out herself and she left the room before Sam could stop her. Sam gave his brother a look, “Lana is safe at Bobby’s, we should really stay here a little longer to make sure you’re both okay.” 

“What? I’m fine — you heard the doc. I’m a miracle!” he said sarcastically, “And Munchkin looks great — and you, well you look like you always do but — we gotta get out of here.” 

John returned from a talk with the doctors just in time, “I’ll drive you three to Bobby’s — all three of you were in that car, not takin’ any chances…” he said, a cup of coffee in his hand, “Then we can talk about what happened.” It was clear John wasn’t happy, but he was saving his spiel for the car ride. No use in going off on his boys about bad plans involving the demon in the middle of a hospital who already wanted the Winchester clan gone as fast as they could. 

Therefore, Lily didn’t find it hard to get the doctors to sign her and Dean out. Lily returned to Dean’s room to find John and she paled instantly in fear that he would know she blew it — and continue on thinking she wasn’t worthy of being with his sons. However, lucky for him Lily was beyond angry at almost everyone and had no time to be meek. “We’re signed out. But…looks like the Impala’s tow also took our clothes too so we’re going to South Dakota in scrubs,” she told Dean who swung his legs off of the bed. 

“Could be worse,” Dean shrugged, his mind a million miles away, “Alright, let’s go.” 

Sam hovered by Dean who shrugged him off and the four set off for John’s truck. When John started the truck up, Lily found herself nervous. She hadn’t seen the semi-truck coming before it smashed into them… how could they ever be safe in a car again?

“Hey…you okay?” Sam asked quietly, reaching for her hand as he took his spot in the seat next to her in the back. 

Lily nodded, catching John’s eye in the rearview mirror. She could feel him — he wasn’t happy, he was utterly disappointed and also afraid — in a much different way than she’d felt from him before on his first arrival. Suddenly, she felt like a high schooler again, getting caught for breaking curfew. Which she’d only ever done once because her father’s disappointment was enough to curb her desire to ever do that again. 

“Now look — I’m glad everyone’s in one piece but you know we gotta talk,” John started after they’d met the highway and started off in a dash to Bobby’s place. Dean sat impatiently in the passenger seat. His girl, his car, his entire life was upturned in the accident and he needed to right it all. 

“About what?” Dean muttered, unable to ignore his Dad but not really wanting to get into it with him.

“What happened to the colt?” John asked. 

Dean realized he didn’t know. He turned around to look at Sam and Lily who were guilty by just a look. 

“What happened?” John repeated, Dean unable to give any answer. 

“It’s gone,” Sam answered as Lily struggled to find a way to say it. “It’s gone, Dad. It was the gun or Dean’s life…” 

Dean caught eyes with his brother. 

“Gone?” John repeated. He already knew, well half knew, but he didn’t have the full story, “Gone?!” 

“Maybe it involved running in with some half-cocked plan,” Dean started angrily, unable to keep himself out of this one, “Sammy, what happened?”

“It was me, okay?!” Lily exclaimed, “I had to hand it over or you would have died on that floor,” Lily told Dean who felt complete shock at the devil’s deal he had missed. “And I couldn’t —“ Lily’s throat swelled up and she looked away. Sam tried to pull her against him but she pushed him away. The memories of that moment flooded back — Sam and Lana leaving them, being Dean’s back-up and then failing. Failing her family. 

“How could you just hand it over?” John started in on Lily, one hand on the wheel, the other expressing his displeasure with great gestures in the air. 

**Sioux Falls, South Dakota  
** Lana sat on the back of some junker in the driveway, waiting for the boys and Lily to arrive. By her estimations, they should be here any minute. She knew it would be harder to say goodbye if she saw them again but she had to see Dean with her own eyes — to know he was 100% healed otherwise there was no deal. 

“You okay, sweetie?” Florence came around, her arms wrapped around herself, “It’s getting cold out here, you could wait inside — there’s a nice view of the drive from the window.”

“No, I’m okay, thanks Mom,” Lana replied with a small smile, “Thanks though. You go inside. They should be here any minute, tell Bobby.” 

“Okay,” Florence kissed her daughter’s temple before retreating into the house. 

Lana was left alone with her thoughts and the ticking clock of her reality when headlights finally illuminated the road and a large black truck came to a stop before her. 

Before the car engine cut, Lily climbed out of the back and slammed the door behind her. She was distraught but when she caught eyes with Lana she hurried over and wrapped the other girl into a tight hug “Thank-God you’re still here!” Lily breathed against her friend’s chest as they shared a much-needed hug. However, a moment later Lily pulled away and hit Lana’s arm, “What did you do?!” 

“Ow! Hey”! Lana exclaimed in surprise rubbing her arm. She could tell Lily was boiling with fear and anger and Lana couldn’t blame her. But this was not the place to talk about it, “It’s going to be fine, okay?” she told her friend, not wanting to say more as the men climbed out of the truck. Sam and John seemed to be fighting about something but Dean looked at her from across the drive — almost as if he believed he wasn’t truly going to see her at all. 

Lana hurried forward and threw herself at him, her arms wrapping around his neck. His scent was the same. It was missing the tell-tale sign of his leather jacket but it was him. He seemed whole, and she began to look him over, “Thank God — Thank God you’re okay…”

“Yeah,” Dean started, glad to see her too, “It’s a miracle…” he looked her over with knowing eyes but couldn’t help but put his hands to her face to hold her close for just a moment. 

“It really is,” Lana replied, the pit in her stomach growing larger by the minute, “Let’s get inside. It’s cold.” For just a moment, however brief, she was here with him. Even if she would be gone into the dark before the sun rose over the horizon.

Dean nodded, but he didn’t move yet. “In a minute. Did your mom cook?” he asked, nodding when she did. “Then everyone can go grab some food and you and I can get a minute…”

John sighed, but since Dean had almost died, he ushered Sam and Lily inside and then he followed them, leaving Lana and Dean out in the cold. When Dean opened up his mouth to ask her what she had done, however, she silenced him with a kiss, and it was hard to not return it. He was still mad, he still wanted to fight, but he was alive, and she was alive, and for just a moment, he wanted to hold onto  _ that _ .

“I love you,” Lana whispered against his lips before she kissed him again. “I thought I was going to lose you.”

Dean nodded slowly. “Which is why I wonder what you did...don’t think we didn’t talk in the car. I’m miraculously healed, and the woman I love...how did Munchkin phrase it? You ‘pulled your IV out on an operating table’? Then very uncharacteristically wasn’t there to greet me when I woke up.”

“I was healing faster,” Lana told him, not wanting to do this. If he knew, he wasn’t going to let her go and she had to be able to go, or Dean would go back to dying and she couldn’t have that. His life meant more to her than her current livelihood, even though that meant leaving him. “I needed to check on your other baby and ask Bobby for help.”

“I’m scared to even ask,” Dean admitted, distracted for now by the fact that his car was broken. “How bad is it?”

“Oh, you don’t want to know,” Lana responded before she cupped his face and looked him in the eye. “Hey...we will fix everything, okay? Somehow, some way, everything is going to be okay.”

Dean nodded, leaning down to take initiative to kiss her again. “We are going to talk about that terrible plan, by the way. You know that, right?”

“I know,” Lana smiled, moving to go in and then stopping when Dean tugged at her hand. “What?”

He was going to say something else, but he smiled a little when she shivered and then shook his head, heading in with her and then nodding when Florence had come to hug him too. She also wanted to make sure he was alright, and Dean sat down to eat some food, all of them pretty famished. There had been too much crying and running around in the hospital to really eat, and Lily and Dean were  _ hungry _ .

After food, Lily and Sam moved to go and get some sleep, Lily feeling like she was nodding off after all of the excitement. As for John, he said he was going to stay up for a bit, and Florence and Bobby disappeared for a beer out in the back. That left Lana and Dean to take the other guest room, and there would be a little fighting, but first, Lana wanted to shower, and when she tugged her shirt off, Dean caught sight of her stitches.

“What happened there?” he asked her.

Lana looked down and saw she was bleeding a little and shrugged. “The car accident. Part of your baby went into your other baby.”

“I’ll have a talk with her,” Dean smiled a little, but then he sighed. “Lanni...you left us there. You ignored us telling you ‘no’, and you almost got yourselves killed. How are we supposed to move forward from here?”

“I don’t know,” Lana admitted, pushing her jeans off and stepping out of them. “I know Sam and I screwed up, and I know that not thinking straight isn’t an excuse, but we just wanted to spare you. You never should have been there.”

“ _ You _ were there,” Dean told her, shaking his head. “You don’t get that, do you? In this instance, yes, I was the weakest link--he didn’t need me--but  _ you _ were there. I need you to get that I love you. I know I suck at saying it, I know I’m a pain in the ass nine times out of ten, but you can’t do that again. You  _ can’t _ . If you need to be who you are, then I will find a way to be okay with it, but Lanni...cutting me out isn’t okay.”

Lana nodded, tears coming to her eyes. “I know. I’m sorry.”

There were too many parentals for him to yell, and Lana was in pain too, so Dean wanted to just bury it and they’d circle back later. He knew she felt bad, and he couldn’t even imagine how she felt when she thought he was dying, so for now, he was going to remind her that he wasn’t dead, and they’d have to work back to things from here. Taking his shirt off, he nodded again, pointing towards the bathroom.

“You and me, bath,” Dean said gently.

Lana tilted her head. “You want to?”

“Bathe with my best girl? Yes,” Dean responded, giving her a sad smile, but following her into the bathroom.

**In the Other Guest Room  
** Sam was lucky Lily even wanted to be in the same room with him, but with Bobby and John and Florence around, it didn’t make sense to make a huge scene about everything. They could talk about this later, when it was the four of them at some motel where they were healing. Half of her was livid, but half of her knew they were safe and she couldn’t live without Sam. Sam couldn’t live without her either, but he could tell as she changed, that she was pretty upset with him, regardless of being glad he was alive.

“You want to talk about it?” Sam asked slowly.

Lily shook her head. “Not particularly, no. This isn’t the time nor the place.”

“Lana made a point about him using your psychic abilities against you and I didn’t want you to go through anymore pain,” Sam said lamely, shaking his head. “You didn’t need that.”

“When you are in pain, so am I,” Lily reminded him, looking at him as she tugged a shirt on. “That is my psychic ability. I feel your pain--I feel  _ everyone’s _ pain. I know why you two did it, but that doesn’t make it okay that you did. You completely ignored Dean and I telling you not to do this. Dean and I as backup? Lana should have been back up. She’s a martyr and you’re too over protective because you don’t think I can handle anything!” The last bit was angry, but it was hushed and she shook her head. “We’re not going to do this at Bobby’s. I’m too exhausted.”

Sam understood that, and he nodded, getting ready for bed himself and then making sure that he stayed on his side of the bed when she turned off the light and crawled in. Lily was exhausted, and she was upset, but she also needed the comfort, and she was glad that Sam let her take the lead here. Moving closer to him, she rested her head on his chest, and she closed her eyes when he held her close, his fingers threading through her hair.

“Tomorrow, we need to ask Lana what she did,” Lily said gently, nodding when Sam did.

He took a breath. “She didn’t tell us the whole truth.”

“I know, but there wasn’t a good time to ask,” Lily admitted with a sigh. “Dean didn’t just miraculously get better.”

“We all know she did something--but she’s here right? Maybe she’ll tell Dean,” Sam shrugged, kissing the top of Lily’s head and then looking up at the ceiling. “This has been a rough few days, and we are lucky to be here.”

“I don’t think luck had anything to do with it, but yeah,” Lily whispered, running her hand softly against his chest. “You can’t do this anymore, Sam. You have to treat me like an equal. I’m not a fragile little girl and I’m tired of letting you guys act like I am.”

Sam didn’t like what he was hearing, but he also knew that he had to stop treating her like this. She was a hunter just like them, and he was going to need to start treating her like more than just the love of his life. They were  _ both _ in this together and she was right: she was  _ not _ a fragile little girl. This prophecy had to do with both of them, and that meant they had to do things as an actual team.

**Later That Evening  
** After getting a bath in, Lana and Dean had gotten into sleep clothes and snuggled up in the bed, both of them thinking over all of the events of the day. Lana kept changing the subject whenever Dean started to ask her about the deal, and while he wanted to be more straight forward about it, he was exhausted, and didn’t mind just lying here on his back with his eyes closed, Lana tracing shapes with her fingertips across his chest through his shirt. She was propped up on her hand, lying on her side watching him, and he was too tired for a proper argument.

“Are you still watching me?” he asked her with his eyes closed.

Lana smiled and nodded. “Definitely am.”

“That’s insanely creepy,” he replied with a smile, but he nodded when she laughed too and leaned forward to steal a kiss that he readily returned. “Don’t get used to this. We’re going to fight tomorrow.”

“Oh, I have no doubt,” Lana responded, feeling that pain settle in again: she wouldn’t be here tomorrow.

Climbing on top of him to straddle him, resting her hands on the pillows, Lana looked down at him as he lazily opened his eyes. She had something to say and he was trying to pay attention, but he’d be out like a light soon enough.

“What?” he asked her.

Lana leaned in and ran her nose along his. “Go easy on Sammy?”

“The last thing Lily and I needed was you two suddenly becoming bff’s,” Dean sighed, closing his eyes again. “Sam is in the dog house, same as you.”

“Just...go easy on him. I deserve the anger,” Lana said again, nodding when his eyes opened again. “I know we both did a bad thing, but it was at  _ my _ prompting.”

Dean sighed and gave a nod. “I’ll remember in the morning but I need to sleep…”

Lana smiled sadly and nodded, pressing her lips to his gently and then getting off of him to snuggle up against him, head on his chest. She waited until he was dead asleep before she slipped out of bed with him, heading into Sam and Lily’s room and kissing Lily’s temple before she headed out into the living room and grabbed for her jacket. Bobby and Florence were nowhere to be seen, but John’s voice stopped her as she opened up the front door.

“Going somewhere?” John asked her.

Turning around slowly, Lana shrugged. “Just out.”

“This have anything to do with Dean’s miraculous recovery?” John asked her gently, nodding when she stood there perfectly still. “I saw the leftover ingredients. Used to summon a demon…”

“I couldn’t let him  _ die _ ,” Lana told him with a sigh, shaking her head. “There was no other way. If you had been there, you would have done what needed to be done too, and I did.”

“But selling your  _ soul _ for him?” John asked her.

Lana felt bad for a moment, but then she realized that John’s words weren’t laced with disappointment...they were laced with thanks. She had made a deal for his son and proven to him beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Dean’s life meant more to her than her own. He hadn’t expected that, at all, but here they were and John knew that she had to go, or Dean was still in danger.

“What was the deal?” he asked her gently.

“It wasn’t my soul,” Lana told him, but she sighed. “He made the stakes, I did not. I have to go and I have to do what he wants for who knows how long. I can’t risk him coming back to finish the deed for real this time. I love him too much. I don’t want to leave--I know they’ll hate me--but his life for my livelihood? No contest.”

John nodded, flicking his nose with his thumb. “You would really do anything for him, wouldn’t you?” he asked, nodded when she did. “What is your mother going to do?”

“She knows,” Lana admitted, wiping tears away. “She came down and they shared a look and he left, and she knew. She understood why. She’s also done crazy things for people that she loved. Hell, she raised  _ me _ .” She and John shared a nod and then she smiled sadly. “I have to go. He’s waiting and I can’t risk Dean.”

“I’ll hold down the fort,” John promised, and after sharing a nod, Lana left to meet her father.

The entire house slept almost in a different realm. The exhaustion, the pain, everything held them in a sleep like no other. The sun was long up before anyone stirred. John had long started sorting through the Impala salvage to get an idea if they could save it. Bobby was knee deep in some research pertaining to demons now that their story had so drastically shifted. 

Sam was the first one up. He popped a few aspirin as the residual aches and pains from literally being hit by a truck kicked in. He left Lily asleep and wandered into the house to see what had transpired and begin to piece back together their lives and a plan. He found Florence in the kitchen working on some sort of casserole and she greeted him warmly, “Good morning, Sam.” 

“Morning,” Sam gave another stretch, “Smells good.”

“Thanks. Figure we’ve got ourselves a full house, might as well prepare something special,” she threw her dish into the oven and turned to face the younger Winchester, “Sleep alright?”

Sam shrugged, “I guess,” he gave a small laugh. 

She nodded knowingly, “Yeah, you kids just gotta do the best you can for now,” she made no mention of Lana, didn’t think it was her place yet to tell Sam exactly what happened. The truth would come out, “How’s Lily?” 

“Physically? She’ll be okay,” Sam answered with a somber note, “Few stitches, nothing permanent.” He was grateful but he also had a feeling there was a reason that he, Lana, and Lily survived being hit by an eighteen wheeler with only a few bumps and bruises that left Dean flat-lining on an operating table…but there was little he could do about it. 

“Good,” Florence approached Sam and placed her hand against his back for a moment to give it an affection rub, “It’ll all work out, Sam, just have a little faith.” 

Sam gave her a nod and she dropped it — knowing better than anyone that these kids would only get better by the passage of time and a few well-placed and difficult arguments; there was no way around it. 

“There’s plenty of things to whip up for breakfast, would you like me to make you something?” Florence was currently stuck in ‘Mama’ mode. 

Same gave her another smile, “No, that’s okay. Thanks, Florence.” 

“Alright, Sam. I’m gonna go back to helping Bobby sort some old books. You just holler if you need anything.” 

Sam helped himself to a cup of coffee once he was left alone, wishing he could erase the past few days and change them. But, how could he? He’d had an entire vision and all he did was certify that it came true. 

Surprisingly, Dean found his way into the kitchen, “Surprised you’re awake,” Sam said simply.

“Yeah, well, that hospital stay — whatever happened, whatever she did… I’m brand new,” Dean shrugged as he searched for a coffee mug, “Besides. Once I woke up and — “ he paused but changed course quickly, “I was never getting back to sleep. Too much to do. I gotta face my baby today and Lana and I…” he gave Sam a knowing look and Sam nodded.

“She still asleep?”

Dean shook his head, “Must’ve gotten up early… probably wanted to avoid me asking questions so early,” he gave the smallest of smiles at the thought of her antics, “She’s probably with Florence.”

Sam shook his head, “No. Florence was cooking when I got down. She said Dad’s working with the car and Bobby’s doing research — she didn’t mention Lana, come to think about it.” 

Dean gave his brother a look. He held the coffee firmly in his hand but made no move to drink the steaming cup, “Lana!?” he called suddenly to no answer. 

“She could be out for a run,” Sam tried as he watched the worry grip his brother’s features.

“I doubt it,” Dean said, the worry growing every second the house remained quiet. 

“Or a walk, I mean Dean — we really stepped in it, she could be—“ Sam tried but Dean cut him off, “Oh yeah!? And whose fault is that?” 

Sam backed down with a sigh and said nothing. 

“You and I — we’re going to have a talk about going off on half-cocked plans and you and Lanni’s new found partnership,” he started with a firm point, “But I’m going to go find her,” he headed out the backdoor without another word, leaving Sam to stew in the new Winchester family drama. 

**Lily & Sam’s Room  
** Lily looked at herself in the mirror. She removed the bandage from her hairline to find several stitches marring her skin around a purple-yellow-ish bruise. Her eyes were lined with dark circles. In short: she looked like hell. 

She managed to pull herself into a shower, finding small bits of dried blood to wash away — and whether it was her blood or someone else’s was unclear. There was a gnarly bruise on her leg that extended from mid calf to above her knee and it was swollen and all around an ugly beast. “Geez,” she muttered to herself, careful not to put her full weight on that leg. She vaguely remembered being pinned by something when Lana — well when Lana fought off a demon.

Her mind swam with fragmented memories of the crash and her shower took longer than usual. When she finally finished up she sorted through her things to find something to wear — as she dressed she could hear something outside. Faint, but it sounded like yelling. After she moved to the window and cracked it open she could hear Dean yelling before the tell-tale sign of glass shattering. It was hard to make out words and she could tell the quieter responding voice was John’s but something was very wrong. 

She hurried out from the room and out the backdoor before Sam could even greet her. She stopped at the threshold of junk cars and it cleared up some of the mystery. 

“WE’VE GOT TO GO GET HER BACK! THAT SONUVABITCH DOESN’T GET TO TAKE HER BECAUSE SHE RUNS AROUND PLAYING MARTYR UNTIL THE GODDAMN COWS COME HOME!” Dean yelled.

John responded, quieter, of course, “I don’t think you understand, son. If she reneges on her deal you die. The terms were weighted in his favor but he won’t kill her…”

“DO YOU THINK THAT MATTERS?!” Dean yelled back. 

“Of course it does! He has the colt and now he has Lana - what’s your plan going to be, Dean? Huh? You tried to stop him once and look what happened!” John’s voice raised.

Their anger and frustration were dizzying. However, Lily was able to piece together one thing very clearly: Lana wasn’t home. She had made a deal and went against her promise and Lily felt her stomach churn along with a small piece of her heart breaking. 

Sam had followed her outside and approached her carefully, “Dean will calm down, you just have to give him time.” he assured her. 

Lily looked up to her partner in utter hurt and devastation, “She’s gone. She really did make a deal and she’s gone.” 

“If there’s anyone that can find their way out of a deal like that — it’s Lana,” Sam assured her. Although he had no idea how to back up his statement. 

“But what if she can’t, Sam?” Lily returned. What if this was the worst-case scenario and everything they all had together had become one big fucked up cluster of hell? 

Sam looked down for a moment, unable to give her an answer. That’s when he noticed how bruised her leg was and how utterly worn his girl looked from the last few days, “We should go back inside… Dad can handle Dean for now.” 

“We?” Lily asked. Although half of her body screamed for his comfort — to disappear into his arms and forget everything and anything in the world around him — the other half was enraged at what domino effect he had started by ignoring her ideas and treating her like a porcelain doll. “It can’t just be ‘we’ when it suits you, Sam.” 

Sam felt that in his gut like a punch to his stomach. He licked his lips, “Lily… I’m sorry, I am. I would do anything to take it back…”

Lily held up her hand. “Too late, Lana’s already done that for you.” she then turned to storm back inside, unable to face him any longer because the dam behind her eyes was cracking and he didn’t get to make her cry this time. 

**Somewhere, Edge of Town  
** Lana had gotten pretty good at figuring out where her father was, or where to get him to be since she’d started practicing and everything had gone down. She couldn’t keep her mind off of Bobby’s place — the sun had risen and the house would be waking up to find that she was gone. Part of her wished she’d left some sort of note, especially for Lily but she didn’t and there was no going back now. 

“Alright…” Lana sauntered through an old warehouse on the edge of town, “Here I am! As promised."

She was not in the best mood, her body still ached, and yet she knew that this had to happen. At some point she would heal, and when they had reached whatever power plateau it was they needed to reach, she would figure out how to go back. Not that any of them would take her back, because she hadn’t left them anything. Lana had thought about letters, but they could have just used them for tracking spells, and she had to make sure that Dean  _ stayed alive _ . She’d find a way to contact them as soon as she could.

“This popping out from the shadows thing is not as menacing as you think,” Lana said out loud, nodding when she felt him behind her. “Neither is showing up right behind me.”

Azazel smirked and shrugged his shoulders as she turned to face him. “Sorry, Princess, it’s just how I work.”

“Lovely,” she replied sarcastically, her hands going into her jacket pockets. “So...where do we start?”

“First, you need to rest up a bit more, but you can do that on the way there,” Azazel explained, beginning to walk and smiling when Lana followed behind him. “I really wish we could have done this sooner.”

Lana sighed gently. “I don’t. I could have been waking up with Dean right about now.”

“To do what? Fight? I saved you from that,” Azazel laughed, shaking his head. “Besides, this is much bigger than whatever you see in some hunter.”

“ _ Saved _ me? You made it worse! Lily made me promise not to offer myself up,” Lana protested, shaking her head. “While to be fair, you made the offer not me, they’re not going to see it that way. I still agreed to do this.”

“Yes, because you have a weakness--three of them, and potentially more. You care too much.” He told her.

Perhaps he was right about that in the long run, because Lana could count on two hands the people that she would have died for. Yeah, Sam, Dean and Lily were the three right off the bat she could think of, but if Annie was in trouble? If her  _ mother _ was in trouble? She’d have made deals for them as well. A part of that terrified her, only because she  _ wanted to be stronger _ . If she was stronger, then she could protect them better and this wouldn’t happen again...if they took her back.

They loved her, she knew that, and they weren’t going to be angry forever, but they were going to be angry enough to start to move past it, only to be angrier when she tried to join them again. There was a possibility that they would distrust her so much, that they wouldn’t even want her to join them back up and she’d have to figure out where she stood with her mother. Perhaps she’d go to Bobby and see how he did things and do something like that--just hold down the fort until she was needed.

“I care just enough,” Lana replied, shaking the thoughts away. “Any of them would do the same for me.”

Azazel nodded slowly. “Yes...that’s called a  _ weakness _ .”

**Bobby’s Place  
** Dean was still livid.

There was no amount of time or food or people talking to him that was getting him calmed down in the slightest. Lily was still pretty mad too, so while she sipped her coffee in the kitchen, it was  _ Sam _ that was talking to her about everything that had happened. He was also mad at Lana, but he had his brother back and that made him feel a little bit better about it.  _ Someone _ had to have faith that Lana would find a way to come back to them.

“I just don’t get why she would promise not to offer herself up and then do it anyway,” Sam shook his head, drinking his own coffee.

Florence nodded slowly. “Because he didn’t give her another option. She let him lay out his terms and then she accepted them. From what she made it sound like, he didn’t give her much choice. Tried to barter with Lily and we both know she wouldn’t have gone for  _ that _ .”

So it was for Dean  _ and _ Lily? That made a lot of sense.

“I just hate that she’s gone,” Sam shrugged his shoulders. “Selfishly, it would be nice to have to face the wrath of the others with someone else.”

Florence smiled and then took a breath. “They won’t be mad at you forever.”

“Long enough,” Dean said, having entered the room to get some coffee too. “You two were reckless and she deliberately tried to stop us from following and then what? Walked right into a trap and now she’s gone. My life isn’t worth her livelihood.”

“She would disagree,” Florence replied, nodding at the look on Dean’s face. “Does it occur to you that it was all a trap for her in the first place?”

Dean paused and then looked at Florence thoughtfully. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean he sends Sam visions, lures you into a trap knowing what Lana would do for you, put  _ you _ in the most danger, and then collects when Lana breaks,” Florence explained, shrugging her shoulders. “I’ve been thinking it over and over and he was watching you. He knew just what to say to put you all on edge and who does he go for? Who did he hurt so badly that you almost died? Breaking her down was  _ exactly _ what he did.”

“That only makes it worse,” Dean responded before he drank his coffee. “That only makes it a million times worse because then I didn’t see the signs.”

“None of us did, Dean,” Sam tried, but he shut his mouth when Dean glared at him.

Even if it all  _ had _ been a giant master plan--which, now that he was thinking about it made total sense--Sam had still snapped when Lana had and had ditched them. He had made them all feel like crap about splitting up, and then had split them up at the worst possible moment and everything had spiraled from there. How were they supposed to move forward from here.

“What’s going on in here?” Lily asked gently, coming into the kitchen too.

Dean sipped his coffee and then looked at her. “Just figuring that the whole thing was a set up to get exactly what it was that he wanted.”

When Lily looked confused, Dean spelled it out for her the way Florence had, only added in some other things here and there. All the nightmares, the visits after seeing Mary’s spirit. It all added up actually, because he had been watching them and trying to figure out their weaknesses and then this happened? Targeted Dean knowing it would get him Lana and the Colt? Honestly, it sounded  _ just like him _ .

“She still broke her promise,” Lily said, but even she had to admit that the pieces fit. “She promised she wouldn’t offer herself up and then did exactly that.”

Sam shook his head. “I don’t think she was given a choice.”

“She could have walked away!” Lily protested, shaking her head. “Bartered better!”

“And let Dean die? She wasn’t going to do that,” Sam stressed before he took a deep breath. “His life was in the balance and the last time she broke too. This time she snapped.”

Lily shook her head. “It’s sweet you want to try and make me less upset at her, but it isn’t going to work. That’s twice now that she’s bailed on me.”

It hit Sam suddenly that Dean wasn’t the only one feeling this abandonment thing, and Sam wished he could make things better but he couldn’t. He had helped her to separate and that was on him completely no matter how he tried to spin it. Now, they had to deal with the consequences and he wished he could take back at least heading off to see Azazel on their own. Not that it would have played out much differently, but they’d still have trust between them.

“We need to stop splitting up,” Dean explained with a nod. “Once the Impala is fixed, and we have another hunt, we have to agree on plans 100%. No more of this self sacrificing nonsense.”

Sam gave him a look. “That goes for you too--you self sacrifice and self sabotage like the best of them.”

“And yet, I’m following the plan  _ you _ originally laid out,” Dean pointed out to him.

It wasn’t long before the boys found themselves caught in a battle between the two of them. Still unable to let go of Sam’s betrayal, the half-cocked plan, of going against his own advice of “no splitting up.” 

Lily felt invisible. Unable to harness her emotions (and theirs) into something constructive it caused a short circuit. Lily threw her mug to the ground where it shattered into a thousand pieces. Both Dean and Sam looked immediately over to her, their conversation cut short. They both stared at her in shock: it wasn’t like Lily to make a scene. 

“Unbelievable! I’m right here!” she called without context before storming away. 

Sam started to stand but Dean held out his hand, “If she’s anything like Lana at all — give her a few minutes unless you want to be separated from your balls.”

Sam sighed at his crassness but sat down again. He’d been hunting his whole life. He’d faced monsters and ghosts, fought shadows and his family but this? — all of this? — It was different. Sam didn’t know which way was up. 

Dean looked at his brother, noting the hopeless look on his face, “I mean, can you blame her Sammy?” he asked seriously. 

Sam leaned forward onto his forearms and shook his head, “No, of course not.”

“Dude we are so screwed,” Dean rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. He hadn’t forgiven Sam yet, not by a long shot - but he could commiserate for the time being. 

Florence came around with a rag over her shoulder and rested her hand on Sam’s shoulder, “I’ll try talking to her later. I know she needs someone to talk to that’s… further away from the problem.” she offered before moving to clean up the shattered ceramic on the floor. 

**Across the House  
** Lily stormed into one of Bobby’s store rooms. It was a room like an office — but instead of a desk and a computer it had old books and relics, artifacts both good and bad. No degrees on the wall but sigils and photos of Bobby with old hunter friends -- including old photos of John and Florence. She shut the door and locked it, looking for peace away from anyone else’s emotions and a modicum of privacy.

Lily was upset that no one was blaming her for losing the colt or being the driver in the crash — it sounded silly but that would have been normal. She expected a fight to hash out before all was forgiven and they made a plan to get their lives back but no, she couldn’t even be treated equally when she fucked up (even if it had all bee to save Dean’s life). 

She plopped down into an old, worn leather armchair and put her head in her hands. Everything was so messed up and Lily couldn’t see how to fix it. This wasn’t “lock Dean and Lana in a room until they bang it out” kind of problems. This was deep and it affected all four of them. 

Her mind wandered to Lana — how she moved the table and stopped her and Dean from following. How she’d somehow been able to fight her Dad, even a little, inside the house… and how she possibly exorcised a demon in the middle of a desolate highway… When had she had time to practice? How had she gotten stronger? 

Lily lifted her head: and how did she do the same? 

She began to peruse the leather-bound books on Bobby’s shelf with a mission. A lot of books on demons had been plucked off for Bobby’s research but maybe it wasn’t a book about demons she needed? She created a large pile of texts by her chair and began searching for anything about psychic abilities. She marked pages and took notes. Hours seemed to pass by and no one bothered her which was just fine by her — maybe Sam was finally getting the message. (Would she return to bed with him that night? Yes. Was all forgiven? Not even close.)

Then she came across a passage — hand written next to a highlighted text: 

_ Demon blood — used to amplify powers. Highly addictive in humans.  _

It was followed by a few scribbles she couldn’t make out - but that was it! It made sense. The demon’s blood had given her her ability and more of it could help her control it. She slammed the book shut and returned all of the books carefully to the shelves exactly as they had been so no one could tell which ones she had been reading. Now, all she had to do was find some demon blood: easy, right?


	28. A Broken Team

**Team Yellow Eyes  
** Lana no longer knew where they were or where they were going but did it matter? She had no connection back to her family - no way to contact them and her end of the deal to hold up. It was strange, being near her Father without running or looking for a way to spear him through the heart (not that she didn’t want to, you see). But to willingly remain by his side was disconcerting to say the least. 

“Starting you on your path shouldn’t be hard — seems like you’d already dabbled in your power but it goes oh so much deeper,” he started, “But it takes focus and you must tap into that potential you’ve been ignoring all your life.” 

“I had pretty good reason,” she icily replied. She was with him - she was going to practice for her own nefarious reasons but she sure as hell didn’t have to get along with him while she was there — that wasn’t part of the deal.

“Oh, so cold!” Azazel faked a shiver, “Leave it to a daughter of mine to have a heart of stone,” he waggled his brows.

“Only when it concerns you,” she replied flatly. However, she couldn’t deny she’d been guarded for a long time but — that wasn’t stone, right? Just… careful.

“I’m hurt,” he mocked, putting his hands to his chest, “But I think we can move right past it when you’ve fulfilled your potential to unlock your destiny.” 

“And what is my destiny exactly?” she asked because there were few things she hated more than a cryptic demon.

“That’s for later. First we have a lot of work to do,” he said simply, shutting her question down completely, “Now — you already seem to be farther along than I expect so…” With the snap of his fingers, another demon appeared before them. They seemed confused and disoriented, “Hey? What the hell?!” their eyes flashed black. But when they caught sight of Azazel’s yellow eyes they backed off a bit with their hands raised, “Hey, man, alright —“ Azazel was sorta a big shot.

“You want me to play nice with other demons?” Lana asked, unable to stop the stream of sarcasm from leaving her lips.

“No, of course not, you’re better than them. I want you to send this one back to hell — shouldn’t be a problem for you, should it? Let’s see what you’ve got, Princess.” he clapped his hands together. 

Lana rolled her shoulders and looked at the demon that became frantic, looking for a way out but wherever they were -- Azazel had been prepared and the demon couldn’t get far. She held out her hand, palm flat towards the low-level scrub and closed her eyes, beginning to focus. Blood began dripping from her nostril and a painful vice gripped her entire body but as it did, black smoke began seeping from the man’s eyes and nose and with a scream the black smoke disappeared into the floor, the body dropping to the ground, dead.

Well, that was something  _ new _ .

Before, Lana had had to do the Latin incantation, but she had also suffered a lot of blood loss and she had just gotten done breaking through her father’s hold. She did wonder if she would be able to get strong enough to end this once and for all, and a part of her wanted to find the Colt. He had it hidden, somewhere, and perhaps if she kissed up enough, then he would let her know where it was...but probably not.

“Excellent,” Azazel praised her, nodding at her progress. “Practice enough and you won’t have to worry about the nose bleeds anymore. Promising, my dear... _ very _ promising.”

**At Bobby’s  
** Dean had been avoiding everyone for a bit, but Sam found him pouring over Florence’s bestiary and John’s journal. He was trying to figure out how they could track Lana, and it had dawned on him that he could just summon Azazel and try and take the deal back. Sure, it would mean he went back to dying, but he’d take that as long as Lana was home, even if it meant everyone being mad at  _ him _ now.

“You seem hard at work,” Sam offered, taking a breath. “What are you looking for?”

Dean didn’t look up. “A way to get Lana back.”

“Dean, if she goes back on the deal--” Sam tried to say.

“--I don’t care what happens to me. She shouldn’t be out there with him, practicing powers she doesn’t understand,” Dean told him with a shake of his head. “I think Bobby has all the ingredients to summon him.”

Sam paused for a moment. “I’m sorry, you’re going to do what?”

“I’m going to summon the son of a bitch that has broken my family,” Dean explained pointedly.

“What did Dad say about that?” Sam asked slowly.

“I had Florence take Dad out for a drink an hour ago.”

It seemed that Dean had things all figured out, and Sam sighed as he sat down and nodded, grabbing some spell books. If Dean was going to do this, then Sam was going to get on board with it and help him to figure it out. After all, he was tired of being on Lily and Dean’s bad side, so he might as well stop arguing and just help. They would have no one to blame but themselves if their own plans went wrong.

“Then we have enough time to summon him before they get back,” Sam admitted, looking the spell over. “This is pretty easy Latin and I can go gather the ingredients together. Do you want to tell Lily?”

Dean shook his head at that, glad Sam was helping. “I don’t want to get her hopes up.”

“Because we have no bartering chip?” Sam asked slowly.

“We will figure something out,” Dean shrugged, getting up and then taking a breath. “Come on.”

Sam nodded, shaking his head a little bit as he followed Dean down to the basement, gathering up all of the ingredients and then saying the incantation. It took a moment, but Azazel appeared and he seemed rather annoyed that he was here, on a Devil’s Trap, but he could fix that. He just had to wait and hear them out.

“Brought me here when my little mini me has no idea where she is? How wonderful, boys,” Azazel spoke, clapping his hands together. “If I didn’t need you, and I didn’t have a deal going about you being alive, I’d kill you both for interrupting my plans.”

Dean spoke up then. “Don’t care about interrupting your plans. Give Lana back.”

“Give her back?” Azazel asked, a laugh escaping. “She came willingly. You of all people should be happy about that. You’d be on the other side by now.”

“I don’t care about being dead,” Dean spat out, ignoring the look from Sam. “Bring. Her. Back.”

Azazel laughed and shook his head. “You have nothing to give me. Nothing I want. _ I have what I want _ . My legacy will be realized, you and your little lady can make up and get to work on that kid, and you? Well...she wants you alive and I’m true to my deals.”

“You just like to burn people on the ceiling?” Dean asked angrily.

“I told your mother not to interrupt me and no one would be harmed,” Azazel explained, which threw Sam and Dean for a loop, but they couldn’t even ask because Florence had come down the stairs and once again saw Azazel standing there, those yellow eyes the eyes that haunted her nightmares.

“What is going on here?” Florence asked them.

She had promised to take Mary’s secrets to the grave, and here Azazel was, about to blow the whole thing for her. The last thing that everyone needed, was more secrets coming out that Florence would have to explain. The boys had their own picture of what had happened in their family, and even John didn’t know everything that Mary had been hiding. It wasn’t the time, and there was no reason for Sam and Dean to be pissing Azazel off right now.

“Flor! Stunning as ever--the years only added to your beauty,” Azazel smirked, clasping his hands together. “The boys were just blaming me for a situation they barely--”

“--you’re supposed to be somewhere with our child, are you not?” Florence asked him.

Dean shook his head. “No. I want her back.”

“What’s the deal?” Azazel asked, honestly curious. “Guaranteed demon child? Sam and Lily come with me early? I’m sadly holding all of the cards, and we both know you won’t barter one family member for another, unless it was you, but like I said, you being alive? That is part of my deal with my daughter, so for now, you’re  _ safe. _ ”

It was in that moment that Dean realized that he really hadn’t thought through what Azazel would want, and before things got worse, Florence walked forward and took a knife out of her combat boot, scratching at the Devil’s Trap to break it. Dean hated to see Azazel go, and he wanted to punch that smug look off of his face, but he sighed when it was just the three of them.

“Dean, for once in your life, you have to let it go,” Florence said with a sigh. “I don’t want her to be gone either, but she did it  _ to save  _ **_you_ ** .”

Shaking his head, Dean spoke up. “I can’t accept that. Weather patterns and stuff would tell us where they are, right, Florence?”

“Yes,” Florence sighed, shaking her head. “That’s how I tracked him before, but what will finding them accomplish?”

“I will talk to  _ her _ , not to him,” Dean pointed out with a shrug.

Sam ran his fingers through his hair. “Then we tell Lily.”

“Lily already knows: she felt him the moment you summoned him. I’m sure she’s fuming on her own,” Florence pointed out, both boys looking sheepish. “If you don’t stop excluding her, you’re going to break her. So stop, okay? Your family unit is broken enough right now.”

Sam nodded, hurrying out to go and find Lily, while Dean ran his hand down his face. He at least got Florence to promise that she would help him to find Lana and Azazel, but only because she wouldn’t mind talking to her daughter as well. Besides, Dean had a pass for now, because his life was contingent to the deal that Azazel had with Lana. If Dean died, then she didn’t have to do a thing he wanted anymore.

**Team Yellow Eyes  
** “Where the Hell have you been?” Lana asked as her father returned. “I had to kill two of your little lackeys and I’ve got a headache.”

Azazel smiled, glad to hear that in his absence she had sent two more demons to Hell. “Where’s the bodies?”

“They weren’t dead like the first. I took them to a hospital and came back,” Lana replied, holding a Kleenex to her nose. “You know, this is handy. As long as the host body isn’t too far gone, the host is safe and I don’t have to spend as much time reciting Latin.”

“And yet it’s a classic language,” Azazel smiled, nodding at her. “You need food.”

Lana gave him a look. “Does your kind even eat?”

“We indulge,” Azazel laughed, and then he nodded. “There’s a diner close where maybe I can have a little fun too. Always making more psychics.”

“Yeah...how exactly do you do that?” Lana asked him slowly.

Azazel was surprised that his daughter cared to learn, but he was always happy to tell, especially because it would help her to understand the prophecy more. Not to mention, it would help her to get a little more insight into the plan, but not enough that she could stop it. This plan was small in the grand scheme of things, but incredibly necessary, and he couldn’t trust her enough to tell her the entirety.

“Some humans are better breeding stock than others,” Azazel explained, ignoring that Lana hated him wording it like that. “I find suitable women, cause a situation where they need a ‘miracle’, get a deal out of it, and then when a child they have is six months old, I drop a little demon blood in their mouths.”

Lana’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry... _ demon blood _ ?”

“Why do you think you’re connected to my psychic children?” Azazel asked with a laugh. “You’re more powerful--you can do far more--but they have the potential to grow strong too. Just practice their powers and drink some demon blood. The more blood, the better their powers.”

“But more of a lack of their own control. I feel a war waging inside of me all the time. I do anything semi dark and it changes my whole mood. I get angry and I almost fillet people. If any of your psychics hop up on demon blood...I mean, that’s a lot of power and power is addictive,” Lana said, her voice laced with concern. “Besides, who wants to drink demon blood? Blood isn’t that tasty.”

Azazel laughed. “My dear, you don’t need it. You’re demonic in your DNA. That’s why you’re special: one of your kind. If your mother had let you develop your powers when you were little instead of lying and saying you were a witch’s child--which, by the way is hurtful--then you’d be able to do so many miraculous things.”

“No, no.  _ Demonic _ things,” Lana pointed out to him. “It isn’t a miracle.”

“Depends on who you ask. I kept Lover Boy from dying, after all,” Azazel reminded him. “Not that he’s very thankful. Summoned me and I had to  _ restrain myself _ .”

Lana paused, sighing deeply. “He summoned you? What the Hell was he thinking?”

“He wants me to return you,” Azazel waved his hands. “Florence will straighten him out.”

“Let’s hope so,” Lana replied, because the last thing that she wanted was for Dean to piss Azazel off enough that he went back on the deal.

**At Bobby’s  
** Sam had been looking for Lily, but had instead run into John, who seemed to want to chat a little bit too. His whole hunting career had been spent trying to get to Azazel and kill him, but now they didn’t have the Colt. It still bothered him that it was gone, but deep down he understood why it was...he just needed it back.

“Sammy,” John said with a nod, nodding more when Sam stopped. “Your brother--sounded like he and Florence are hunting Azazel down again?”

Sam nodded slowly. “Unfortunately.”

“We need the Colt back, so we need a plan,” John pointed out to him.

Sam ran his hands over his face, much like this brother did when he was frustrated or overwhelmed. He looked at John and it was clear Sam was weary, tired, worried, and out of his element, “A plan?” he gave a small laugh that lacked any joy or humor, “That’s what got us into this mess…” he said off-handled.

“What?” John asked, still not knowing the full story of how this disaster they were in came to be.

“Nevermind, look,” Sam started, trying to find a way to express his hopelessness about their situation. Azazel had the colt and Lana. Dean’s life was contingent on Lana remaining with him — sure, killing Azazel would free Lana and finish the business they’d been after for over 20 years but Sam knew now more than ever that it wasn’t that easy, “He has the Colt himself. There’s nothing we have that would make him give it back and it’s not like he’s going to let slip where it is…” 

John nodded which surprised Sam, “You’re right,” he replied. John was also fearing the worst for their situation but he was the least likely to show it. He might get angry or distant but he wouldn’t give up the fight even if it was a fool’s errand; he’d come too far and he owed it to Mary to finish the job. There was a long pause between the men who let the reality of their situation settle between them. However, John looked up at Sam who couldn’t help but ask, “What?”

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned about that yellow-eyed son of a bitch,” John started, an echo to Dean who became more and more like John everyday, “Is that he loves to talk, loves the sound of his own voice.” 

“Yeah,” Sam agreed with a shake of his head. He could almost laugh, “Yeah he does.” 

“I might have tunnel vision when it comes to this demon but I know enough that you’re right son: no matter how much we get him to talk he won’t let it slip where the Colt is or how to get it back. He knows it’s our only chance of killing him.” 

Sam nodded along but couldn’t see where his Dad was headed so he merely commented, “Yeah, we’re screwed.”

“Unless,” John gave his younger son a smile, “It’s not us he tells…” The gears were turning in his head faster and faster. The plan still was half-formulated and messy but he just needed a little time and a little research to sure things up.

“What are you talking about?” Sam asked, unable to follow John’s train of thought. He was still worried about Lily in the back of his mind — knowing the tempest that awaited him when he finally found her. 

“Lana —“ John started, “She might be a part of him and he might be doing all that he can to sway her to his side but you know she is still half Florence—“ 

Sam leaned in, “You know he won’t let us near her without a fight and more than that she won’t risk her end of the deal.”

John agreed, “There are other ways to get messages to people. Look, Sammy. Let me look into this. I’m going to get with Bobby and do some research but I promise when I have something I’ll come get you and Dean, alright?” John stood, ready to begin testing his theory. 

“And Lily,” Sam added. Half the reason they were in this mess was the Winchester penchant for leaving Lily out of plans. 

John wavered at the mention of the girl who let the Colt go in the first place. He gave a single nod to placate Sam before he left the room in search of Bobby and some serious research. 

Sam shook his head and knew he had to face the music. He started off again in search of Lily but he found she wasn’t in their room and as far as he could find she wasn’t in the house. He ran into Bobby in the office who was gathering a stack of books, “Hey Bobby uh — you seen Lily around?”

Bobby looked back at Sam, “Last I knew she was outside in the back,” he replied. He took a moment and Sam knew there was more he wanted to say so he waited, “Boy — you better get right with that girl,” he started like a disappointed father, “She ain’t some weekend fling, she’s your _ soulmate _ , kid. It’s time you start acting like it.” 

The term ‘soul mate’ made Sam stand up a little straighter. Deep down that’s what he believed but to hear someone else say it made him hear it different, “Yeah, yeah Bobby I know.” With one last look Sam retreated from the office and headed outside. 

**Team Yellow Eyes  
** Azazel really did take her to a diner. It was surreal. They were really at the diner — the diner was real. No mind tricks, no dreams. She and her father sat in a booth face to face and yet — her father’s presence was barely noted. He wasn’t invisible by any stretch but he seemed to pass by any real note of the waitress or other patrons. He’d learned to blend in so well (even with his yellow eyes) that he’d barely warranted a greeting at their table. 

“She’ll take it all,” he said with a grin as the waitress took their order.

“No!” Lana started and then put on a smile and apology for the poor waitress, “One extra large breakfast scramble, side of hash browns and the biggest coffee you can give me.” Once the waitress left the table she looked back to Azazel, “One thing you’re going to learn about me: no one orders my food for me unless you know exactly what I want.”

“Ooh, yes. The modern feminist, how could I forget?” Azazel smirked, “I should be proud.” 

Lana rolled her eyes. He had been right about one thing: she was hungry. She was beyond hungry. She was beyond hangry. However, she had a long con to play until she could figure out how to find the colt and end him so she could make it up to those back home for what she’d done to save Dean. Not that she’d go back and change what she’d done all things considered… 

“I can’t help but say you continue to surprise me,” Azazel was a mixture of proud and smug and it turned Lana’s stomach. 

“Why?” she asked, unable to help herself. She had to accept that she was here - she was doing this and she couldn’t clam up the whole time if she planned to learn where the Colt was hidden. The waitress brought her a large mug of coffee and Lana nearly spilled it when she pulled it towards herself. 

“Think about it…you’ve got a sharp mind, Princess. Your love for that meaty hunter really clouds your vision and we’re going to have to work on that.” he started first, unable to miss the chance to take a jab at Dean whenever he could. His plan was multifaceted in order to get her to where he needed her to be to break the seal. 

Lana rolled her eyes into her coffee, unable to take her lips away from the sweet taste long enough to give him some quip back to his unrelenting crusade to belittle Dean. In her silence he continued, “You don’t have to be alone…”

Lana looked up at him, unable to not take the bait, “What are you talking about?” she asked exasperatedly in a groan. She was pretty sure if there wasn’t a giant breakfast in front of her soon she was going to attempt to strangle the demon with her bare hands and see how that worked. 

“You know there were three of you under one sad little roof that were a part of the plan. If you’d so much as accept your destiny is greater than one boy I could bring them here too. The three of you: fulfilling destiny together.” he spun it like it was some grand affair. 

“You mean Sam and Lily?” Lana pressed, “You think I’d be selfish enough to have them under your thumb just so I wouldn't have to be alone with you?” she pressed for cynical clarification, “As much as I hate to give you any credit, come on, you’re smarter than that. I’d rather suffer through a thousand breakfasts with you than have them anywhere near you.” 

“Ouch,” Azazel said without any actual pain, “Just remember, the offers on the table. You could have your ‘family’ back together and I would keep up my end of the deal, so to speak.”

“The four of us are a family. No more, no less,” Lana returned hardly. Although, after what she’d done to get here with him she wondered if they’d still agree with that. She had little faith she’d be allowed back into the unit if they all survived the coming days. 

“Oh Princess when you realize your full potential and give a taste of what I can give you… we’ll see if you still feel the same,” he took a coffee and sipped it — seeming to enjoy the taste like the first meal after surviving the desert for forty days and forty nights. It made Lana sick. 

**Bobby’s Place  
** Lily was perched upon the back of the Impala on the trunk, cross-legged. The frame was shot to hell, the windows had all been either shattered in the crash or removed. It was barely a ghost of what it had been. But there was enough of the trunk that she’d been able to hoist herself up onto it. She held Lana’s jacket over her lap and was fiddling with pieces of the radio, knobs and dials, trying to put them back together. 

She didn’t look up when Sam approached her; he wavered a few feet away and when he realized she wouldn’t acknowledge his presence he spoke, “What are you doing?” he asked. He could kick himself for starting so lame when he really needed to open with an apology — but he was still a dumb boy.

Lily swallowed hard, “Trying to fix the radio. I mean, I can’t help the electrical system but the vanity part I was hoping I could fix it,” she said, taking her multitool to the dial. 

Sam nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets, “Dean will appreciate that.” 

Lily continued to be unresponsive. Sam sighed, realizing it was going to be harder than he expected to begin to heal what he had broken, “I know you know what Dean and I did. Florence told us.” 

Lily looked up from her project, half-surprised he had any idea at all that she was aware of what went on around them and wasn’t just an oblivious baby bird, “You can’t summon him into the house and think I won’t know,” she said, hurt that he would be so oblivious, “His presence is…” how could she begin to describe it? “….torture.” 

Sam sighed and hung his head. Of course it was, but he’d been so eager to please Dean he hadn’t for a second thought about the repercussions, “I’m sorry, Lily. I really am.” 

“Mm,” she replied blandly, returning to try and piece the plastic plate over the FM/AM numbers. 

“Lily please—“ 

“No,” she looked up. She couldn’t stomach his apology, “I told you.  _ I told you _ what I needed. I told you you had to start including me in these plans less than a day ago.  _ ONE DAY. _ And then… Dean wants to summon him and you two run off and don’t even tell me he’s going to be under the same roof?!” 

Sam felt the crushing weight of guilt weigh on his shoulders. He nodded, he stood and took Lily’s anger because he deserved it, she was right. He couldn’t take it back now. 

“I always thought—“ her voice cracked so she took a moment to compose herself before she continued, “No matter what our problems were or how badly we screwed up I always believed something about you, Sam. I always believed that you were the most genuine person I’d ever met. If you were sorry — you meant it. If you made a promise, you kept it and — and it’s just hard being wrong.” 

Sam’s heart broke in two, “Lily—“

“No, Sam.” Lily said, unable to say more for fear she would break, “Just — go back inside okay. I’m sure Dean’s got another half-cooked plan for you to join. I’m going to stay out here.”

He had once been putting Lily above everything else--everyone else. Hell, he had started a whole fight between them all when she’d almost been sacrificed to a fertility/harvest God. Now what was happening? Life was spinning out of control and somehow, Lily was getting stuck. This woman meant  _ everything _ to him, and yet he was letting her slip and he couldn’t do that to her.

Sam just couldn’t.

At the same time, Sam wasn’t sure that talking to her right at this moment was the best idea, so he gave a defeated nod and promised himself that he could do better. The only problem he was going to run into, was that for the foreseeable future they were stuck here, and they were going to have to adjust.

**Across the House  
** Florence was pouring over a map when John and Bobby came to join her, both of them smiling at the way she seemed so determined to help. There were secrets that lay with her--secrets she wasn’t going to tell just yet--but her daughter was off with their enemy and her first priority was helping out the boys. Helping out Lily. That motherly touch had not been taken or distorted by hunting, and John wished he got it.

“Find anything?” John asked as Bobby took a seat next to her.

Florence shook her head. “Not yet, but then again, I’m not as sure about my hunting skills when it comes to Azazel. He has thwarted me so many damn times.”

“But you’re also the one who has gotten the closest every time--not counting the kids,” Bobby pointed out to her. “They only got close because he wants to use them.”

“Which is exactly what we need to prevent, but John’s gonna have to pull that stick out of his ass long enough to help put Sam and Lily back together for that,” Florence mused, not even looking at him.

John pursed his lips together. “No, I’m good. Those two have to be together for part of that bastard’s plan to work and I’m not going to help him with a damn thing.”

“Oh, so you want your son to turn into you?” Florence asked angrily, making eye contact with him finally. “You know  _ exactly _ what it feels like to lose your soul mate. You know how it eats you up, and you know how badly it hurts. The fact that you would let your own son hurt like that…”

Bobby made a face but kept his mouth shut, never wanting to step on Florence’s moments. She also had a point, and while he wanted to argue with John, that had always been Florence’s specialty and not his. So, he just got to sit and watch this unfold, kind of wishing he’d had popcorn ready because John looked like a vessel was gonna pop out of his head or something as he stared Florence down.

“Flor, I’m not helping a demon,” John said decidedly. “I won’t do it.”

Florence nodded her head. “You have to give up control and let your son control his own life. He and Lily have to be given the chance to make their own choices and we will deal with the consequences later. I don’t care what you want, to be frank with you. I care about that young woman out there and my priorities right now are to help her, and to find my daughter. You don’t fall under those categories if you’re going to be a cantankerous old man.”

Bobby couldn’t help but whistle at her words. “Well, I have nothing else to add. I’m going to go whip those kids up some food,” he announced, giving Florence’s shoulder a squeeze. “You two try not to burn the house gone while I’m cooking, okay?”

“No promises,” Florence smiled, but she stopped smiling when she looked at John. “This fight is their fight too, even if you don’t want it to be. They are stronger together, and if we want to have any chance at getting that Colt, then we have to be at our strongest too.”

John was huffing, but when it came to arguing with a Meckenzie woman, sometimes a Winchester man just had to fume silently to himself and remember she was the boss.


	29. Hunting and Dream Walking

**Two Weeks Later  
** Dean knew something was wrong with him when two weeks had passed and he actually  _ missed _ having Lana’s ice cold feet shoved between his own. He barely slept at night these days, having grown quite accustomed to her body next to his, and the only brief time he could distract himself, was working on the Impala. It was going to take awhile to fix her up, and yes, sometimes while he was under the hood he was distracted by his thoughts of Lana and how much she’d enjoy watching him work, but Lily helped.

They had been spending more time together, even though Sam had also been putting Lily first the last couple of weeks. Dean knew that was important for him to do, but it left him tracking a demon with Florence and John, and John was a little ticked off that Florence would stop things just to make sure Sam and Lily were okay. She and Bobby were keeping everyone fed, John was trying to find a way to communicate with Lana, and everyone was mending slowly but surely...they just knew part of them was missing.

No matter how angry they were, Lana was part of their unit and she wasn’t there. Not to side with Lily against the boys, not to keep Sam serious and yet logical, not to temper down Dean, and they could all feel it. Lily especially. It was hard to have something you were used to, be taken from you, and the adjustment was far from complete. They missed her terribly and she missed them too.

She was learning a lot with her father, but it didn’t change that she was not really enjoying herself. Learning how to be more powerful was useful, but she missed snuggling up with Dean, joking with Sam, and running off with Lily to have girl time. Lana was worried about how she had broken everything with them, and it made her fearful about the future: something that her father consistently was annoying her about.

Her "weaknesses".

But, Lana was at least out and about, whereas Lily and the boys had been cooped up in the house. Bobby didn't mind the company, plus Florence and John were still there, but other than working on his car, Dean was getting restless. Florence could tell, and though she knew no one would get a kick out of it, she needed them to go and do something else.

"Wait...does this say 'killer clown'?" Lily asked Florence as Florence made them some food for the road.

Florence nodded slowly. "Yep, it does. I know Sam hates clowns, but you kids need to stretch your legs. Dean is either huffing at me about weather patterns, or grumbling under that car."

"Oh, so you're kicking  _ him _ out, and I have to suffer too?" Lily asked, but she was smiling.

It was hard for her to be mad at Florence because she was so kind and caring--and because she knew she was the favorite of her and the boys. Besides, she wasn't trying to throw them out, she was trying to get them back into a routine, and even Lily could admit that they needed that. A routine would also help them to keep their minds off of Lana...but would hunting? It would just remind them that she wasn't hunting  _ with _ them.

"We don't need a hunt," Dean was protesting as Sam pushed him gently into the kitchen. "Wait is that...are you putting  _ bacon _ on that sandwich?"

Florence laughed at how he suddenly perked up. "Bacon is only for hunters working on carnival cases."

"So I guess it belongs to me," Lily beamed, she and Florence winking at each other.

"I mean...I guess we could go, but what about wheels?" Dean asked as he leaned on the island counter.

Florence threw him a look. "First of all, wash your hands. Bobby doesn't need oil all over his counter."

"Second of all, Bobby went to get a car for us," Lily said, but none of them had seen it yet.

They had no idea that Bobby had in fact gone and grabbed them a van, and filled it up with gas. It was as Florence finished filling up a special snack bag for Lily only, that they heard Bobby pull up and Dean shook his head. Sam didn't care as much, but he had to admit he wasn't looking forward to this.

"No!" Dean protested, shaking his head. "I'm not a damn soccer mom!"

Lily laughed and reached for the snack bag. "Well, sucks to be you. I could always drive, but if you want bacon, you're gonna have to pull on your big boy pants and get with the program."

Dean glared at Lily but in a playful manner. They had been each other’s rocks for the past few weeks. Between their shared loss of Lana and their uneasiness with Sam — Lily spent most of her days sitting outside handing Dean tools or reading from the manual. Sure, they had their spats over which way something was to be soldered or who had to go inside to get the beer but all-in-all they had been lucky to have each other.

That didn’t mean Lily was sharing her bacon. 

“But, seriously dude you should change; you smell like a race track,” Sam scrunched his nose. Dean threw his arms into the air and disappeared into the room he would have been sharing with Lana to clean up and pack his things.

“Alright, that should do it,” Florence closed a small cooler and passed it over. Sam reached out to take it but Florence started with a “Ah-ah!” Which made Sam’s hand recoil in surprise. Florence finished handing the cooler to Lily before she leaned in and kissed her forehead. 

“Alright,” Bobby approached Sam and passed him the keys, “It’s not the prettiest car you ever saw but it runs, it’s got new tires and she’ll get you where you need to go. Enough cargo space for your usual supplies —just throw a blanket or something over it, yeah? Don’t need to get pulled over with load sawed offs rolling around in the back.” 

Sam smiled, “Yeah, thanks Bobby. Honestly — I’ll miss the Impala on this one but the chance to see Dean drive a minivan? Well, there’s still something to look forward to.” 

“Atta boy,” Bobby clapped him on the shoulder. Sam smiled and he realized it had been a long time since he did. 

“Sam...” Florence pulled the large man towards her and placed her hands on either side of his face, “You take care of those two, you hear? We’ll keep looking for my daughter but you three go out and do what you do best.” 

“We will,” Sam said in sincerity as Florence pulled him into a hug, “Alright,” she broke apart, clapping him on his large biceps, “Gotta get you kids on the road. Wisconsin’s quite a hike.” 

Lily had already slipped away to tuck the cooler into the back seat and throw her bag next to it. It was hitting her heavy that things were going to be how they first were: Sam and Dean in front, Lily in the backseat like a child. Her vote would almost always be outnumbered and she didn’t have a lot of faith she would be treated like an equal on this journey. 

When Lily turned around she stumbled backwards with a gasp to see John standing a few feet from her. He gave a half smile, “Didn’t mean to scare you,” he muttered quietly as some sort of apology. 

“No, it’s — it’s okay,” she gave a smile but she was uneasy. He was still a hard read, even with her ability, and she hadn’t really seen him for days and yet here he was, “The boys are inside.” 

“I know,” John replied, “I’m here to see you,” he said calmly. 

“Why?” Lily asked. She wasn’t going to pretend like that wasn’t odd. John had never sought her out one-on-one. He still didn’t like her - even if it was mostly because of her part in the hellish prophecy. 

“Flor and I — we’re close to finding that Demon, I can feel it. When we do, we’re going to find a way to get Lana and the Colt back. Because, well, quite frankly there’s no other option. But I need to be sure,” John explained. His voice was like rolling thunder: low, smooth, full of gravel and truth.

“Be sure... of what? We all want Lana back...more than anything,” Lily said, still unsure of his intentions. 

“I need to be sure that prophecy doesn’t come true before we kill that demon,” John finished. 

“Oh,” Lily was taken aback, “Do you think I want it to happen?” She asked with an accusatory tone.

John simply shook his head, “No.” he answered simply, “But Sam he — he’s got blinders when it comes to you. He won’t think straight. You’ve gotta be the voice of reason. Keep him at a distance.”

Lily couldn’t believe this. Her mouth opened and closed in surprise a few times. What was she supposed to say to that? She and Sam had been distant these past few weeks but they still shared a bed every night and she could admit she missed him so bad it hurt. But John wanted her to avoid him? At a time like this? 

“Dad, there you are,” Sam appeared. He donned his jacket and held his duffle in his hand, “Flor was looking for you.”

“Just saying goodbye to your girlfriend here. Glad you boys caught a case,” John sauntered away from Lily like nothing had happened, “We won’t give up the search for her; we gotta be close.” 

“Yeah,” Sam breathed, “That’s what Flor thinks.”

“And we all know she’s always right,” John replied.

They were joined by Dean moments later who opened with a quip, “Did I miss a moment?”

Sam rolled his eyes playfully and moved so Dean and John could say goodbye. After Sam threw his duffle into the back, he approached Lily who was still reeling from the audacity of his Dad, “You okay?” He asked quietly. Things were still wrong between them and Sam would give anything to fix it but he didn’t know how. 

Lily looked up to Sam and she gave a nod, “Yeah,” she replied, “I think this is good for us. All of us.” 

Sam had the urge to wrap his arms around her but he wavered and gave an awkward nod, “Uh yeah, yeah me too.” He agreed. Lily could sense him — unlike his Dad she knew everything Sam was feeling. It reminded her of how much she missed him. 

“Sam...” Lily muttered, taking a step forward and placing her hand on his chest. He looked down at her hopefully with his wide signature puppy-dog eyes, “Look, I — I haven’t forgiven it all... I — I don’t know how,” she admitted, “but...” I miss you. 

“As much as this pains me,” Dean interjected himself into their conversation, oblivious to what was going on. Sam gave his brother a hard look and Lily backed down, “Keys,” Dean held out his hand. 

Sam gave Dean the keys with a huff of annoyance.

“Alright, let’s hit the road!” Dean called, going around the car to the driver’s seat. By the time he’d left them, Lily had climbed into the backseat. Sam ran his hands through his hair before he managed to climb into the passenger seat so they could put Bobby’s in the rear view. 

**Team Yellow Eyes  
** Weeks with her father wasn’t her idea of a good time. However, in the smallest bit of optimism, she had learned how to control her power more. She could move things with her mind with less exertion and more precise focus. Although she would not be giving Azazel ANY credit — she knew that every inch he tried to selfishly push her was an inch that she would take and ready herself to finish him. 

She missed her family like something fierce but this was for them. To keep Dean alive. She was still angry her father destroyed her phone and she reminded him at any little inconvenience. 

“When I’m done with you, Princess, you won’t need to rely on silly little human inventions. Your power will be — great.” He said for dramatic effect. 

“So you keep saying,” Lana replied with an exasperated sigh.

Honestly, Lana was almost at her wit’s end, but because she thought there should be more that she could do. If he could do it, she should be able to. She had his genes in her DNA, whereas Lily and Sam and the other psychics only had a few drops of blood that they had ingested as infants, and he made it sound like the psychics could do a  _ lot _ . So there were questions she wanted to ask.

“What I really want to be able to do, is visit people in dreams,” Lana admitted, tilting her head. “I want to go to Lily and tell her that I’m sorry.”

Azazel made a face. “Why would I teach you that to apologize? And really? Not Lover Boy?”

“I want to talk to  _ Lily _ ,” Lana stressed, sighing at him. “That is the most useful skill that you could teach me.”

Honestly, Azazel didn’t want to teach Lana a skill that she was going to use to apologize to her friend, but it would also be useful for her to be able to communicate with others if he could turn her to his side. So, with a very deep sigh, Azazel motioned for her to come a little bit closer to him.

“I will teach you how to dream walk, but it isn’t that simple. It takes great focus and a lot of energy,” Azazel explained, looking at her.

So, they took seats on the ground and Azazel closed his eyes, Lana thinking he was meditating. That’s what it looked like, but she did what he asked and she closed her eyes too. Then he started to tell her that it was hard to get it the first couple of times, and Lana didn’t mind that, but she wanted to know how to do it. Lily deserved something--anything--because of how she had left. She wanted to tell her that she loved her and she was sorry, and she wanted to do it now instead of later. If it meant she had to do it later, however, then she would and she would let Lily know at her earliest convenience that she was sorry.

“What if they’re awake?” Lana asked him gently.

Azazel smiled at her. “Then it takes even  _ more _ energy.”

“Of course it does…” Lana replied with a sigh.

Well, at least they were going to get to practice, and in the end that was what Lana wanted the most. She wanted to be the best version of herself when she made it back to her family and even though these were Hell given talents, she wanted to think she could use them for good. After all, vanquishing evil was the way that her mother had taught her how to live her life.

**On the Road  
** Dean was the happiest of the three hunters that he had a case, and yet he still wasn’t the happiest that not only was Lily the only one with a bag of snacks, but that this was so weird. Only a kid survived a slaughter of their parents? That was kind of rough, and he felt for them--and yet being able to call this a hunt and get back into the groove was helping because he missed Lana.

“You've gotta be kidding me. A killer clown?” Dean asked, shaking his head. “Like...if Lana was here, she’d be nonstop talking about how this is ‘It’-level shit.”

He tried not to mention Lana a lot, but it happened more than he would like to admit. Acting like she was just gone for a little bit, was easier for him than admitting that she was gone because she was saving his life. Besides, it really  _ was _ something that Lana would have said had she been there. Between her and Sam, she really did think she was the most afraid of clowns, but Lily didn’t like them either.

“So they were at which carnival again?” Dean asked, trying to brush the Lana comment under the rug.

Lily thumbed through the information from Florence. “Uh...Cooper Carnivals.”

“So how do you know we're not dealing with some psycho carnie in a clown suit?” Dean asked them.

“Because there is no way that Florence would send us out to just be some carnie in a clown suit,” Sam pointed out, shaking his head. “I mean, she really wanted  _ you _ off of her back, but still.”

Dean made a face at that. “Um, she  _ loves _ working with me to track Azazel down. It’s like the olden days, only I’m a lot hotter than Dad.”

“You think you’re hotter than your dad?” Lily asked him, but she refused to say anything more than that.

“The cops have no viable leads, and all the employees were tearing down shop when the murders happened,” Sam decided to continue, not wanting to talk about Dean and his father and how hot they were. “Alibis all around. Plus this girl said she saw a clown vanish into thin air. Cops are saying trauma, of course.”

Dean had to nod at that because if there were alibis and monsters vanishing into thin air, then it was  _ definitely _ their kind of thing. Would he rather be looking for Lana? Oh, of course and the other two knew he would rather be doing that too, but they had a job to do. There was a poor kid out there that had seen her parents murdered by a killer clown, and Dean thought that was a  _ little _ funny because of how much Sam  _ hated _ clowns.

“I know what you're thinking, Sam: why did it have to be clowns?” Dean asked with a smirk on his face.

Sam made a face. “Oh, give me a break. If Lana was here, you’d be on her case too.”

“But she’s not,” Dean pointed out before he laughed a little. “You didn't think I'd remember, did you? I mean, come on, you still bust out crying whenever you see Ronald McDonald on the television.”

“Do you?” Lily asked Sam suddenly.

Sam made a face. “Well, at least I'm not afraid of flying.”

“Planes crash!” Dean protested quickly.

“And apparently clowns kill!” Lily replied with Sam, both of them smiling a little.

Nothing was completely fixed and they were still fighting, but it was kind of nice that they were on the same page. If Lana had been there, Dean would be the odd man out and she would have smacked him upside the head, but Sam thanked God for the little things. Someday he and Lily would fix things and he could prove that he would be better, but for now, this was what they had to hold onto.

“Fine, fine,” Dean told them, glad they had agreed. “These types of murders, they ever happen before?”

“Three times, three different locales,” Lily responded from the backseat. “That means we could probably rule out spirit since they usually are tied to a house or a town, but I mean, if it’s tied to the carnival maybe?”

Sam nodded in agreement. “It could definitely be a cursed object tied to the carnival that is summoning a spirit. Can we think of any monsters that might have similar M.O.’s?”

Lily wasn’t all that surprised that Sam was trying to side with her and hear her out, only because he really was on thin ice with her. She missed him, rather desperately, but he also missed her. Things needed to find a way to go back to a new normal, and it was hard when Lana wasn’t here too so they could work through anger and trust with her as well, but Dean had to believe that that would happen. For Dean’s sake, Sam and Lily had to believe that it would happen as well, but when?

“For now, it’s just a paranormal scavenger hunt,” Dean sighed, glancing in the rearview mirror. “Hey, uh...there any snacks in there for me?”

Lily laughed and shook her head. “Not on your life.”

**Back at Bobby’s  
** Florence had never actually stopped looking for her daughter, but tracking Azazel on her own, tracking Azazel with John, and tracking Azazel with Dean, were three different situations. John was definitely a lot more hardened about the whole thing than Dean was, mainly because Dean’s main goal wasn’t the gun and Azazel: it was  _ Lana _ . He wanted his girl back and  _ then _ he would worry about the Colt and Azazel.

What John hated about all of this, was that there were girls in the equation that had his boys all out of sorts and for a minute he missed how things used to be. Dean used to be able to have fun times with a cute girl and then peace out of the situation, but with Lana, it was like he’d actually felt romantic love as it should be, and now he didn’t know how to live without it. On the one hand, he was really glad about that, but on the other hand, Dean wasn’t listening to orders like he used to.

Sam never used to listen to orders, but he listened to them even less now and that bothered him more than he could say. Plus, there was the whole demonic child prophecy he was dealing with now too, and John didn’t want there to be any way that it could happen. Perhaps, he needed to find a way to get Lana and Lily to see that being with the boys put them in danger...at least until they could kill Azazel. At the same time, Florence’s words had settled in from before and John was annoyed he could  _ see her point _ .

Lily and Sam  _ did _ remind him of him and Mary, and he  _ did _ understand what it felt like to argue with your soulmate--to be  _ separated _ from your soulmate. It was actually because of that that he was so afraid that this prophecy would come true, and then to have Dean and Lana contrasting Bobby and Florence, really didn’t help him feel at ease either. The two who were phenomenal at what they did when they were apart, and then together there was so much domesticity that it left them open to possible pain and that helped no one.

Maybe Florence made it work, but how did he know it would work?

If Lana was a regular girl, or even a regular hunter, then John would understand that, but instead, she was the daughter of his enemy. What if she could be converted? What if because of who and what she was, she put Dean in danger for the rest of his life? He didn’t seem to care about that and it was partially that, that made John so upset about the pairing. He and Lana had only found their footing because she was doing this to keep Dean alive--had done this to save his life--but the more powerful she became, the more  _ dangerous _ she became.

“You in here brooding?” Bobby asked John, handing him a beer.

John smiled a little. “I don’t brood.”

“Oh, you brood. Where do you think your eldest got it from?” Bobby asked with a laugh. “He becomes more and more like you every day.”

“And yet he also becomes less and less like me every day,” John let out a sigh and shrugged his shoulders. “What is it about Meckenzie women that blinds a Winchester man so much?”

Bobby shrugged his shoulders. “I wouldn’t be able to tell you. Singer men get along with Meckenzie women just fine. We know they’re strong, motherly and usually right. Though, those Harte women? They’re always right.”

John made a face when Bobby threw that in there, but considering how much more Bobby got along with Florence than he did, he should have seen it coming. Florence had picked favorites and it was Lily, and every time she was motherly with the boys, she only endeared herself to them more. Yes, the boys needed a motherly touch, but Florence wanted these couples to work out so desperately, that she and John weren’t ever going to see eye to eye on it. John honestly  _ did _ want his boys to have a future after this...but were Lily and Lana really the women that he wanted them with?

“Singer men are too easily swayed,” John shook his head, sipping his beer. “The good stuff…”

“Which you don’t deserve,” Florence told him, entering the room and resting her hand on Bobby’s back to rub up and down it gently, “but I was out voted.”

John raised his eyebrows. “One on one?”

“It was Bobby’s turn to be right,” Florence smiled, Bobby smiling at her. “It’s how we don’t fight as much. You do know what compromise is, don’t you, Johnny?”

“Oh, don’t you even start that up again,” John told her, but a laugh came out. “Fine. I’ll just be glad that it was Bobby’s turn to be right.”

Florence was glad that John wasn’t completely angry, and then she sat down and Bobby joined her on the couch. They had a lot to accomplish while the three younger hunters were gone, but Florence also knew that John wanted to ask, and so she asked him first.

“You want to know why I have so much faith in the girls?” Florence asked him, nodding when he sipped his beer again and nodded in agreement. “Because they love your boys. It’s really as simple as that.”

“But love isn’t always enough,” John reminded her, shaking his head.

“No, but the girls also know that with love comes compromise and sacrifice, and they are willing to fight for what they want and fight for what they have. They are powerful in their own rights and you have to at some point, realize that your boys love them too. You raised them, John. At some point, you have to know that they know what is best for them. What you think is best is nice and all, but they get to choose what their futures are going to be. Did you listen to your old man with Mary?” Florence asked, giving him a look and then laughing when he smirked. “Yeah, didn’t think so. You try and forbid it, and they’ll fight you harder.”

John sipped his beer again. There Florence went — being right. However, this was a hard one for John to even begin to admit. He knew, deep down, that the more he dug in his heels and tried to separate them, the harder the boys would hold on. That was just how kids worked and his boys? Well, they were a special kind of stubborn, “Once we kill this Demon, maybe things can change.” he said cryptically but it was enough of a white flag that Florence smiled and leaned back into the couch with the knowledge slowly (even if very slowly), she was breaking John Winchester down. 

**A Few Days Later - Wisconsin  
** “I don’t think there’s another option,” Sam said, throwing his hands up. 

“Sam, we’re not carnies!” Dean replied quickly.

“We’re not FBI agents either,” Sam returned quickly, looking to Lily for support. 

“Or cops, or lawyers, or electrical engineers, or…” Lily smiled at Dean in apology but Dean threw a hand, “I get it! I get it!” 

“Dean, you know I wouldn’t suggest this if I thought there was another way but think about what the sheriff said. Carnies — they’re like family. Like — our sort of family. They don’t talk to outsiders and the only way to know if their alibis really check out and have the ability to search for some sort of cursed object or whatever the heck is creating a clown spirit? We need to be on the inside.” Sam finished his side of the argument.

Dean rubbed his temples with a sigh. Sam was right but he was already driving a minivan and now? A carnie? His image was taking a serious hit. He wondered if Lana would take his side on this to avoid the clowns at all costs. The thought brought the faintest of smirks to his face but it vanished when he had to get back to business, “Alright, fine. But three of us? That’s a little much. We can’t all go undercover.”

Lily nodded, “For once, I agree,” she said. She usually was put-out she couldn’t go undercover — she was too short to be an FBI agent, too small to convincingly play a cop, and the only time her special set of physical attributes came in handy were around high schoolers which wasn’t exactly the best ego boost ever. 

Dean and Sam looked at her in surprise. 

“I know, I know,” Lily said, wishing Lana were here to even things out again. Before Lana, she hadn’t known what she was missing but now? “I can come in as a patron in the evenings to help.”

“But I thought you had to be this tall—“ Dean started, his hand raising to a flat point near his eyes and Lily gave him a look, “ _ To ride the rides _ , jerk,” she retorted but it fell flat as a smooth comeback. Sam chuckled and Lily continued, “But for once your weird co-dependent brother thing like really works.” 

“Hey!” Sam and Dean said together. Lily smiled at her boys: despite the weird emotionally purgatory they all lived in — every once and a while there was a ray of sunshine, “I just mean it’s like you said, Sam. They’re closer than normal families — tight knit. They travel from place to place relying on each other for everything. Sound familiar?” 

Neither Sam nor Dean could fight her logic. Lily smiled triumphantly, “But that just means I can be here doing research, sending info, and I’ll come in at night with any like extra equipment or whatever when the carnival’s open.”

“Are you sure it’s not because you don’t want to see the clowns?” Dean winked at Lily. She was nowhere near the level of Sam and Lana in her dislike of clowns but she hadn’t been thrilled about this case either because these were proven  _ killer clowns,  _ “Or are you afraid they’ll mistake you for the freak show.” 

Lily rolled her eyes, “Ha-ha,” she returned. This is where she really needed Lana on her side. Suddenly, a pressure gripped her head and she squeezed her eyes shut. Both boys were at attention in a split second. “What is it?” Sam asked quickly. 

Lily held her head but she wasn’t in pain — it was the strangest sensation. Her vision blurred and she felt — she felt  _ Lana _ . But just as quickly as it had come it was gone and Lily’s eyes opened again to find Sam knelt in front of her with that quintessential Sam-worried-face, “No, I’m okay…” she started, trying to process what she had felt. 

“Don’t tell me you’re starting to get those weirdo visions too,” Dean said, afraid to add any more crazy to their mix.

Lily shook her head, “No, it was… it wasn’t bad. I—“ she didn’t want to get anyone's hopes up in case it had nothing to do with Lana and it was just her subconscious dealing with the loss of her friend, “—I think it’s just a migraine. Probably my period,” she stated plainly with a shrug, knowing the boys would back right down from asking any other questions. 

And she was right. 

The boys launched into their plan and cover story to infiltrate the carnival as two brothers looking for work. 

**Team Yellow Eyes  
** Lana let out a frustrated sigh. She almost had it — but Lily was awake and she couldn’t push through enough to see her, or even begin to talk to her. 

She wiped the blood from under her nose; her Father had been right. Trying to talk to anyone while they were awake was a lot of energy. She stopped having nosebleeds when using her powers but this was a whole new set of skills. 

“No luck, I see,” his voice sounded from across the room. 

“I’ll get it,” Lana replied hardly.

“That I have no doubt,” Azazel replied although he seemed to be focused on something else while she whittled away at trying to contact Lily without her cellphone, “This would be easier if you hadn’t broken my phone.”

“And let your little family come running after you at the single ping of a cell tower. Come now, Princess, we can’t make it that easy, can we?” 

“We could,” she replied simply. She never thought in a million years one of the things she missed so terribly was the easy banter between her and her family (mostly Dean, but hey — it was a group effort.) When she did not receive a reply she looked across to where he seemed busy over an old text. “Care to share with the class?”

“Not this time, sweetheart,” he replied, “Some things are ‘Daddy only’,” he said which made her face downturn in displeasure. She hated anytime he actually referred to herself as her Father and double-bonus points of disgust when it was the word ‘Daddy’. 

“Fine then,” she closed her eyes again, trying to muster the energy to reach out to Lily again. Perhaps she should wait until the middle of night when she was sure Lily would be asleep but when she practiced dream-walking Azazel seemed to leave her be and that was blessing enough.

For now perhaps she needed a break, but she knew her father wouldn’t let her go too far from him. Because she was getting so much better at exorcising demons without breaking a sweat, she couldn’t just have demons on her. Sure, she hadn’t practiced multiple demons at once yet, but she was definitely thinking about it. It would be so much nicer if she could do that, but that took practice as well.

“I need a walk,” Lana spoke up, sighing a little bit at his look. “I cannot stay cooped up like this. I am the person that jogs at 5am every morning if she can.”

Azazel made a face and rubbed his temples. “Fine, we’ll take a walk--I’ll show you my next victim for a deal.”

**Carnival - Blind Man’s Tent  
** There was a man with sunglasses throwing knives in a tent when the boys went looking for Mr. Cooper, Sam not the happiest that Lily was left behind, but he had to do it. If he didn’t start trusting her, then both Florence and Lana would be right, and he’d push her so far away he lost her. He might not have liked that he dragged her into this life, but she was a part of it now and it was just part of who she was.

Didn’t mean he had to like it.

“Excuse me, do you know where we can find Mr. Cooper? Have you seen him anywhere?” Dean asked slowly.

The man spoke up as he pulled off his sunglasses to show he was blind. “What is that, some kind of joke?”

“Oh my God. Shit. I’m...I’m sorry,” Dean managed to say as Sam smiled a little.

“You think I wouldn't give my eyeteeth to see Mr. Cooper? Or honestly, to see anything at all? A sunset? A kid laughing?” he asked Dean.

Leaning over to Sam, Dean whispered, “You wanna give me a little help here?”

“Not really,” Sam replied, shaking his head.

Even though he knew that he also needed to get back into Dean’s good graces, this was far too funny to pass up just letting him crash and burn. For a minute it felt normal, and like things were somewhat back to normal, and he just let the scene unfold how it was going to, when a really short man came in and asked if there was a problem. He looked like a midget, but Sam would never say that out loud--he liked his red cape though.

“Yes there’s a problem--this guy hates blind people,” the blind man responded, motioning to Dean.

Dean quickly shook his head. “No, I don’t. I promise.”

“What’s your damn problem?” the midget asked Dean angrily.

“Nothing! Nothing, I swear! It was just a little misunderstanding!” Dean protested, waving his hands as Sammy had to hold back a snicker.

“Little?!” the midget asked him, angrier now. “You son of a bitch!”

“No, no, no, no! I'm just, could somebody tell me where Mr. Cooper is?” Dean asked hurriedly as the laugh bubbled out of Sam and Dean shot him a look. “Please?”

That seemed to get their attention, and even though they seemed ticked off, they got Mr. Cooper for Sam and Dean and let them and he looked them over. They seemed like they could help out enough when they said they were just looking for jobs, and he had them follow him back to his office. At least they were away from the angry carnies that wanted to smack Dean around, and Sam tried to keep his eye out for anything that might seem...well, out of the ordinary. After all, they were  _ really _ here for a hunt.

“You boys picked a hell of a time to join up.” Mr. Cooper commented, motioning for them to sit. There were only two available chairs and Dean hurriedly picked the normal one, leaving Sam with the pink one with the giant clown face on it. Dean was grinning, but Sam tried to sit on the very edge of the chair and though he grimaced, he knew he had a job to do. “We've got all kinds of local trouble.”

Dean tilted his head. “What exactly do you mean?”

“A couple of folks got murdered and the cops always seem to start here first,” Mr. Cooper sighed, shaking his head. “You two uh...ever worked a circuit before? You don’t look the type, honestly.”

Sam started in on a long lie, but Mr. Cooper saw right through it and Sam sighed. “We haven’t, no.”

“We just really need the work, and Sam here’s got a thing for the bearded lady,” Dean threw in, Sam shooting him a dirty look.

“You see that picture? That's my daddy.” Mr. Cooper motioned to a picture.

Sam nodded and looked it over. “You look just like him.”

The thing was, he really  _ did _ , and that was a little disconcerting. It could be possible that this was the same guy as the guy in the picture. This was a carnival after all, and weirder things had happened. Was it a shifter? Some kind of monster? They were going to need to get more information, but Sam filed it away under the list of things that he was going to need to tell Lily all about tonight.

“He was in the business too: ran a freak show up until they outlawed them in most places for being undignified. So most of the performers went from honest work to rotting in hospitals and asylums. That's just progress, I guess. You see, this place, it's a refuge for outcasts and it always has been. For folks that don't fit in nowhere else. But you two? You should go to school. Find a couple of girls. Have two point five kids. Live regular.”

For a moment both of them hesitated because they had girls, Sam had had grad school, and for once to Dean, the sound of a kid or two didn’t seem so bad. All it did, however, was remind him of the fact that the one woman that he saw an actual future with, was gone. She’d traded her livelihood for his life and he didn’t even know where in God’s name she was. They were going to argue, that was a given, but Dean realized that something was going to have to give and he was going to have to start at least getting more emotional with Lana behind closed doors.

They needed to figure this out.

As for Sam, he knew that he needed to figure things out with Lily, because she  _ was _ his future. He’d known that for years and now here they were, stuck in a weird limbo because of betrayal and bad communication. Sam didn’t want anything worse to happen, and they also had a lot to discuss. They had to figure out what their futures looked like now that they knew about the prophecy, but he also knew he and Dean couldn’t hesitate like this much longer or it would ruin the whole hunt.

Leaning forward, Sam answered, “Sir? We don't want to go to school for anything. And we don't want to be regular or have regular lives. We want  _ this _ .”

It had sounded almost so sincere that even Dean had to do a double take, but he knew that look in his brother’s eyes: he was hurting just as much as him.

_ Sam & Lily  
_ **Sam:** We got the job  
**Lily:** And I’m so proud. My boys are carnies! A girls dream  
**Sam:** Haha very funny  
**Lily:** I think I’m hilarious  
**Sam:** you’ve been spending too much time with Dean  
**Lily:** Probably   
**Sam:** Carnival opens at 5 tonight  
**Lily:** You gonna buy me cotton candy?   
**Sam:** Don’t think we can hang out might look suspect   
**Lily:** Carnies aren’t allowed to flirt with cute patrons?  
**Sam:** Probably frowned upon  
**Lily:** What a sad life  
**Sam:** You have no idea  
**Lily:** Let me know if you guys get a whiff of anything IMMEDIATELY   
**Sam:** Will do  
**Lily:** I mean it. ASAP. As. Soon. As. Possible. Like. Sooner than that.   
**Sam:** I promise  
**Lily:** ok. I’m trusting you   
**Sam:** I won’t let you down  
**Lily:** <3

**The Motel Room  
** Lily had gathered the information on the few cases Florence had set them up with — the previous occasions of a clown killing the parents of a child having attended a carnival the day previous. She began posting them to the wall of the room along with maps and pin-points, and possible entities that could be responsible for a traveling supernatural killer.

She understood why Dean was so adamant about “don’t let the maid in” because their room 100% looked occupied by a serial killer. She found herself weirdly excited about visiting the carnival that night. Sure, there was potentially a killer clown loose on the premises but at the same time: when was the last time she saw something other than a motel room or Florence’s house? Well, besides things like gross cellars, abandoned warehouses, and real actually-haunted houses. But those didn’t count. 

_ Group Chat: Lily, Sam, and Dean  
_ **Lily:** Any creepy clown sightings?   
**Dean:** Nada. Sammy’s disappointed  
**Sam:** I am not   
**Lily:** Anything suspicious at all?   
**Dean:** Kinda creeped out by their leader. He’s super old cryptic and like your height Munchkin   
**Lily:** Is he actually creepy or just short?   
**Sam:** Kinda creepy  
**Dean:** Both   
**Lily:** Should you both be on your phones at work?  
**Dean, Sam:** No  
**Lily:** 🙄 See you in an hour unless you get fired first   
**Dean:** Yah right I’ve never been fired before  
**Lily:** Have you ever had a real job?  
_ End of Group Chat _

**Team Yellow Eyes  
** “You know I have an automatic issue with anyone you want to call a ‘victim’, right?” Lana asked once they hit the street. She had wondered what had made him choose this neighborhood and why they’d stuck in one place for a few days. Understandably, he stayed underground or on the move a lot — which Lana had known from their many years of trying to track him down. 

“For now,” he returned simply, “Sooner or later you will see the brilliance of my plans and appreciate everything I’ve done for us.” 

“Us?” Lana echoed.

He didn’t bother responding — for he knew she had yet to see the brilliance of his plans. But he was more than confident with a little more power, a bit more control she would start seeing things his way. That and if he could get her mind off of that insignificant Hunter of hers it would all fall into place.

“Now, remember, Princess. Victim is a — strong term here. They get a deal, and it’s mutually beneficial. They make the deal of their own accord...” 

“I highly doubt it’s actually mutual,” Lana replied harshly. Mary came to mind — Sam and Dean without a mother, Lily without both of her parents, and all the other psychic children out there — no way they all got what they wanted. There were no happy endings when her father was involved.

“It isn’t my fault if humans don’t like to read the fine print,” his eyes flashed in his self-reverence of his clever nature. 

Lana rolled her eyes but she had no choice but be along for this ride. But she could only hope that it wasn’t much longer before she could visit Lily — even if it was only to be able to say she was sorry, to see her friend would be a sight for sore -er- yellow eyes. 

Azazel rubbed his hand together as they came to a stop outside a house. It didn’t seem like anything special. Is this what it looked like from the outside? Is this what her house looked like to him? The Winchester’s? The Hartes? Her stomach sank, “Seems they need a little help and I’m nothing if not gracious...”

“Not the word I’d use,” Lana looked at him. No matter how much time she spent with him — no matter what he could teach her — she could never stop biting him with her words when she had the chance. It was her only outlet. 

“MMmm...maybe this will change your mind.” and Azazel snapped his fingers. 

Azazel and Lana were inside the home.

“Don’t see why we couldn’t knock...” Lana murmured out of the corner of her mouth, wishing she were anywhere else but there.

Her father didn’t answer her, but she knew that the reason they hadn’t knocked was because he was casing the place. All he had to say when the woman showed up, was that he was here again to pay his respects and the front door was open. She was so frazzled that she just smiled and nodded and led him further into the house, and Lana understood him much better now: his specialty was praying on other people’s pain.

This woman had a dying husband--of what, Lana was pretty sure was cancer--and for once she didn’t know what to say other than give her condolences. Her father hadn’t given the man cancer of course, but he would definitely cure him of it... _ for a price _ . In times of great grief, people were willing to do just about anything, which was something that Lana had found out the hard way when she had made a deal of her own. This deal, however, was the most vague deal she had ever heard.

“Wait…” the woman said gently. “You can...you can save him?”

Azazel nodded his head. “But it comes at a price, my dear.”

“What price?” She managed slowly.

“In a few years, I will come back and collect. You don’t have to do anything, just don’t get in my way,” Azazel shrugged, and then he smiled. “But you agree to that, and I will heal your husband up as good as new.”

Lana opened up her mouth to speak, but the look on her father’s face told her that she couldn’t say a word. How could she forgive herself if she didn’t say something...but how could she live with herself if he went back on their deal? Instead, Lana left the house and she waited for him outside, deciding then and there that tonight, she was going to dream walk and contact Lily.

If they killed him before he could collect, then her husband would be saved  _ and _ their child would be fine.

**Cooper Carnival - Night  
** Lily was all ready to play the part of the cute carnival goer and do her fair share of canvasing the area for a clown. She looked adorable if she did say so herself, and she smiled when she found herself near Sam as he wore his red carnival jacket, holding a cotton candy. No one seemed to be around, and he handed it to her, which made her smile pretty wide.

“You look amazing,” he whispered, and then he winked and walked away when she smiled back.

It was a nice little exchange and Lily smiled to herself, but then she felt her cell phone vibrate. When she opened it up to see a text that told her to meet them at the van, she was a little worried, but did as she was told. Following their directions, she got into the backseat and was alert as she could be.

“A little girl saw a clown her parents didn’t see, so we are following them home,” Dean explained as he pulled the Impala out onto the road. “I would rather not do this when we’re out our child whisperer, but you’re good with kids too, Munchkin. I mean, you’re about the same size.”

Lily shot him a glare. “I did  _ not _ miss  _ you _ today.”

“Don’t lie,” Dean teased, laughing when she reached up and smacked him upside the head. “Hey!”

“If Lana was here, she’d have done it already,” Lily shrugged, smiling a bit to herself.

It still hurt, certainly, but even she had to admit that it was a little easier to talk about her like she was coming back, than it was to talk about her like she wasn’t. Taking a deep breath, she listened to them talk about the carnival, smiling a little bit as she kept to herself. She wished she had someone else to talk to, but they  _ were _ about to have to deal with a potential killer clown spirit.

“Dean, I cannot believe you told Papazian about the homicidal phantom clown,” Sam said as he shook his head.

Dean shrugged his shoulders. “I told him an urban legend about a homicidal phantom clown. I never said it was real, okay? He caught me talking to you about skeletons--what was I supposed to do?”

“Tell a better lie?” Lily asked him with a little laugh when he made a face. “What? I’m not wrong!”

She wasn’t, but Dean was still frowning. “I got more information when we talked too.”

“Oh? What?” Sam and Lily asked together.

“So, in ‘81 when they had clown issues at the Bunker Brother’s Circus, Mr. Cooper worked there as a lot manager. So, whatever this is, maybe he brought it with him.” Laughing, Dean shook his head. “I cannot believe that we are still talking about  _ clowns _ .”

“Not our fault that they kill people.” Lily laughed too. “Now, can we do this stake out right, please?”

The boys laughed a little and nodded, and there was a little bit of small talk, but soon the whole car was asleep, and while the boys weren’t affected, Lily found her dream slowly changing. It was basically where she was now, but only she seemed awake, and while the boys slept in this dreamy like setting of reality, she saw Lana outside of the car and she got out, wanting to run to her, but pausing.

“What is this?” Lily asked her slowly.

Lana smiled at her and nodded. “Dream walking? That’s what he calls it.”

By him, she meant Azazel, and Lily nodded too because it made sense to her that if Azazel could do it, then his flesh and blood could too. Even though she was mad, Lily moved toward Lana and Lana moved toward her too, both of them wrapping their arms around each other. It might be a dream, but it  _ felt real _ , and Lana was talking before Lily could say anything else.

“I know what I did was stupid, and I didn’t want to break my promise, but he didn’t give me a choice. I really am  _ sorry _ . Dean was dying, he kept mentioning you, and I just wanted to...I don’t know.” Lana admitted, pulling back and smiling at Lily. “I don’t know how much time I have either, but he’s making deals. I need you guys to know that he’s still trying to make more psychics. I don’t know how many of you that there are, but he’s been at this for so long. I don’t know how he picks them, but he keeps mentioning ‘good breeders’, and he definitely preys in times of grief. He can’t bleed into you guys’ mouths unless he has  _ permission _ , but these people they don’t...he is  _ vague _ . They don’t even know what they’re agreeing to and I can’t...being here gets harder every day.”

“Well, you chose to be there,” Lily reminded her, but she grasped her hands. “I’m mad at you--I really, really am--but I also want you to  _ come home _ . When are you coming home?”

Lana shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know yet. He doesn’t trust me enough to tell me where the Colt is, and I definitely can’t just take off. I won’t be the reason Dean is dead.”

“No, I get that,” Lily agreed, shaking her head. “I do get that. I just wish that we could have figured it out  _ together _ .”

“He wouldn’t have lived without a deal. If it wasn’t me, it would have to be someone else with what he wanted. That Reaper wasn’t going to let Dean go, and while I can’t trust my father, he rarely lies and I know that,” Lana took a deep breath. “I’m trying to get to you...I am.”

Her nose started to bleed when she said that, Lily frowning when Lana let go of her hand to blot her nose and then frowned too. That was a sign that too much energy was being used, and suddenly, they could both hear Sam trying to shake Lily awake. It was their cue to part, so with one more hug, Lana pulled back and gave her a smile.

“I need to practice this, so...we’ll be in touch. Tell Dean gently?” Lana asked her, smiling lovingly at him sleeping in the front seat of the car in their little dreamscape. “The van kinda suits him--he’s still hot.”

Lily laughed a little. “Yeah, he’ll be upset you didn’t come to him too, but I’ll tell him.”

Nodding, suddenly Lily felt herself waking up in the backseat, Sam looking incredibly concerned at how much it had taken to rouse her from sleep. Lily just waved it off as Dean got out of the car, the boys having seen the clown. They needed to save these people, and they hurried into the house, Dean shooting the clown with rocksalt. It really didn’t seem to work, and the clown instead turned invisible and jumped out of the window as the little girl screamed.

Her parents came running down when she kept screaming, both of them freaking out that there were three strangers in their house near their daughter. Their daughter was complaining that they had shot her clown and now he wouldn’t play with her, and Lily found herself speaking up.

“We were walking by and saw her let him in. We just wanted to make sure she was okay. We’re so  _ so _ sorry,” Lily said hurriedly, pushing on the boys to get them to go. “We’re going! We promise we’re going!”

As they left, Lily vaguely heard the mother start to talk to her daughter about stranger danger, and she and the boys got into the van and they had to drive away. That was definitely  _ not _ a spirit, and she was still trying to ground herself after seeing Lana in her head. It was  _ nothing _ like what Azazel had put her through when  _ he _ had come to her, and she was thankful for that. Honestly, she didn’t want to bring Lana up right this second, but as Sam and Dean started trying to figure out what this thing was, Lily took a deep breath.

“So we’re ditching the car?” she asked, interrupting their conversation. “Okay, and then maybe we should call Florence? Bobby? They would know what this thing is, right?”

“I just don’t want to take a chance,” Dean responded, and they drove for a little while, day breaking as they ditched the van and grabbed their weapons and duffels to hoof it. “I hated this friggin' thing anyway. We can call later.”

Lily smiled a bit. “Lana thought it suited you.” She hadn’t meant to say it like that, but both Sam and Dean looked at her as they walked, and Lily took a deep breath. “She came to me...in a dream. Means she’s getting stronger, and what a neat parlor trick.”

“Wait...she came to you in a dream?” Dean asked her, fuming just a little. “That’s why it took so long to wake you up?”

“Yeah,” she admitted, speaking up so Dean wouldn’t be so mad. “She didn’t have the energy to see you too, but that doesn’t mean she won’t. She and I have a psychic connection.”

Come to think of it, Lana had said something about dripping  _ blood _ into the mouths of infants, and it suddenly dawned on her that that had happened to her and Sam. That had happened to  _ all _ of the psychics like them, but she couldn’t say that right now. She’d figure that out on her own and then deal with the boys after.

“Well, I’m glad she’s safe,” Dean said, and though he meant it, he angrily walked farther ahead of Sam and Lily.

Sam sighed a little and reached for Lily’s hand. “Well, he’s gonna fume until she comes to him. Did she...did she look okay?”

“I mean, she looked great. Sad, and definitely tired, but she still looks good,” Lily told him, nodding a little. “I only miss her more now though.”

“I miss her too,” Sam admitted, glancing up at Dean. “Until she comes back, he’s going to be a right pain in the ass.”

“Well, the woman he loves had to leave to save his life. In his mind, this is his fault. He won’t even...I don’t know. I’m worried about him.”

Sam nodded at her. “When he isn’t completely shutting out talking about her, he’s pretending it’s normal she’s gone. Even though we’re in a limbo, I still get you at night, but he’s sleeping alone and he hasn’t been used to that in a long time. I don’t know what I’d be like if  _ you _ were gone. Maybe...maybe you could talk to him? I might be his brother, but you’ve definitely become his best friend.”

“Are you two going to hurry up or not?” Dean called back to them.

Sam sighed and moved to go up with Dean, Lily following, feeling like she was jogging slightly to catch up. When Dean was mad, he practically marched, and she wished she knew what to say to make him feel better. Didn’t help that Sam noted his mood and asked him if he was okay, and Lily winced when Dean spoke, his words louder and angrier than he intended, but it was how he felt.

“I’m tired of people asking if I’m okay!” Dean said firmly, shaking his head.

Sam nodded slowly. “I just want to make sure you really are. You’re my brother and I’m worried about you.”

“I swear to God, if people keep asking, I’m gonna throw punches,” Dean responded, and he wasn’t okay, but this was not where he wanted to talk about it. “I want to focus on this hunt, so just both of you... _ keep up _ .”

Lily wanted to return some smart remark that she would have to become a superhero to keep up with them at the pace they were going all while they hauled all their stuff. Maybe it  _ would _ have been better with Lana the child whisperer — but when the parents caught two full-grown men in their house…they couldn’t risk if they’d gotten their plates. 

Lily could feel Dean’s wall up — the wall of annoyance and anger and hurt; it was dizzying. 

However, she nearly collapsed when they finally made it back to the hotel room. Dean barely seemed phased by their two mile hike. 

Lily threw off her shoes and lamented the ruin of another cute outfit. She’d never even gotten to enjoy her cotton candy. Stupid clown. 

“What sort of spirit is immune to rock salt?” Sam asked after plopping into the chair, beat. 

“Something that’s not a spirit,” Dean replied, only happy to respond to  _ case _ -related questions, “So if that thing’s been traveling with carnivals for thirty years —“ 

“—carnivals with a Cooper,” Sam added, “I mean, he’s our only common denominator.” 

“What you think it’s like a — creepy clown family heirloom?” Lily asked, trying to remember all the pieces of the puzzle. 

“Or — what if,” Sam started, pulling out his phone, “Remember? Mr. Cooper ran the Bunker Brother’s lot — and he showed us that picture of his father but they were almost identical.” 

“You think Mr. Cooper and Senior Cooper are the same person?” Dean confirmed as the wheels began turning in his head. He would throw himself head first to finish this case if it meant not having to deal with the feelings of Lana being able to  _ dream-walk  _ and not visit him, “Could be… dragging that thing from circus to circus. But why? What’s he got against the kids?”

“Not the kids, the parents,” Lily corrected, “The kid always stays unharmed.” 

“Do the parents have anything in common?” Sam asked, looking to the wall Lily had so thoughtfully pasted up around the room of the previous known victims that died by the same MO, “Other than that they can’t seem to see the clown and well — it kills them?”

“Or tries,” Dean finished. They’d saved those parents today, even if it meant they’d had to ditch the van in fear of the cops, “What does Mr. Cooper have against parents?” 

“What does anyone?” Lily asked, it was unhelpful but true. There was a long pause. Sam looked over the wall again and again, Dean had gone to wash the soot from his hands.

Lily perked up a little, “As far as we know, the clown appears first to the kids at the carnival right? Then later appears to them outside their home… I mean we watched the little girl open the door and take  _ something _ inside.”

Dean appeared in the doorway to the bathroom, wiping his hands on a towel, “It needs the kids to get in the house?” 

Sam slowly began to nod, his eyes scanning quickly over the newspaper clippings and notes, “I can’t explain why it leaves them alive but in every single one — the kid let the clown in, saying they wanted to play.” 

“It’s a good cover,” Lily said. 

“I wouldn’t let it in,” Sam returned, half under his breath as he tried to put the piece together with their new-found theory. 

“Oh, come on Sammy, _you don’t want to play?”_ Dean put on a creepy voice, waggling his fingers at his brother’s ear with a laugh. Sam pushed his hand away, “Don’t touch me!” he said quickly. The brothers were fighting like _normal_ _brothers_ — Lily could handle that. 

“I’m going to call Florence,” Dean said, snatching his phone from the bedside, “If anyone’s going to know about a child-friending killer-clown…” he half laid on the bed to make the call. 

“I don’t know if I’d open with that,” Sam replied with a sigh. He had to give the notes on the wall a break and he wanted to know what Florence might think about everything they’d discovered — and taken a shot at. 

Sam turned to Lily who was looking in the mirror at her clothes, disappointed. Sam approached her with trepidation, coming to lean on the dresser next to her, “You really do look great,” he told her quietly as Dean spoke to Florence on the other side of the room. 

Lily gave him a smile, “Thanks,” she said, “But I should’ve known better than to use my good jeans to hunt an invisible killer clown,” she shrugged, “It’s my own fault, really.”

Sam gave her a sad smile. He wished she could have a normal life — no matter what he was destined for, he wished she could do things that normal women did in day-to-day civilian life, “Sorry you didn’t get to eat your cotton candy.”

Lily gave a small, amused laugh, “Yeah, me too. Unknowable evil ruins the party again…” In this moment of peace, Lily couldn’t help but turn to Sam and step up to him, her toes pressing against the toe of his boots, her hand wandering up to play with a button on his shirt. Lana had taken all of her energy today to find Lily — and she apologized. It didn’t heal the wound Lana had created but it was like a really nice, medical-grade bandaid. “Sam,” Lily started, wondering how to both tell Sam how deeply she missed him and purge the anger, hurt, and betrayal that still stung within her.

“Lily,” Sam replied, taking her hand into his and holding it against his broad chest, “It’s okay,” he replied, “You don’t have to say anything,” he told her. He didn’t want the moment to be ruined by some deep conversation that they’d never get to finish before the case was over. 

Lily gave him a smile, the one usually reserved for him and him alone, “Maybe when this is all done, things will get better but I love you. I haven’t told you in a couple days and I don’t want to go any longer.” 

Sam smiled, the first genuine smile to cross Sam’s face since the accident. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her slight frame against him. Unable to help himself, he kissed the top of her head and it was only then that Lily showed him her willingness to kiss him fully — and so Sam kissed her.

When the pair finally broke apart they realized the room had gone quiet. They looked over to find Dean sitting on the bed, watching them with a creepy smile, arms crossed over his chest, “Well aren’t you two just adorable?”

Sam rolled his eyes and Lily gave him a look, “Did you learn something or were you just going to creep all over us?” she asked. She’d expected Sam to let her go now that Dean’s focus was on them but he didn’t and for now — that was okay with her. 

“Florence thinks it could be a rakshasa,” Dean sat up a little, happy to discuss the case and not any weird touchy-feely crap, “Some Hindu creature that can take on human form and feed on human flesh but get this — they can turn themselves invisible…” 

Sam nodded, “That’s not a bad guess—“

“—and!” Dean held up his finger, wanting his ‘aha’ moment, “They can’t enter a home without being invited.” 

“Bingo,” Sam finished, “So how do we kill it?” 

“Have to stab it with a dagger made of pure brass,” Dean replied, a little less excited on that end. They had a lot of tools at their disposal but a dagger of pure brass did not happen to be one of them. 

“Oh, right,” Sam sighed, his shoulders dropping, “Then I guess we should stop by the rare knife store on the way back to the carnival.”

Lily patted his chest gently with a laugh. The boys could get this way when cases got rough. But Lily perked up a little, “Hey — didn’t the carnival have a  _ knife _ -thrower?”

The boys looked at each other.  _ Bingo _ .

**Team Yellow Eyes  
** “So how many are there?” Lana asked. She sat, flipping through some old text. She’d actually got a little time to herself and had found a stash of old books. Some of it was illegible, some in Latin — but she was hopeful she might find a scrap of information to help her eventual escape.

“How many what, exactly?” Her Father returned. He knew exactly what she was talking about but he’d never make any answer easy for her. 

“Psychics. Demon blood infected babies. I mean, you’ve made it clear that I’m the only one of “me” but how many babies have you infected?” She barely glanced up from her read despite the seriousness and weight of the question at hand.

“Oh, hard to say, hard to say…” he replied, earning yet another eye roll from Lana, “I don’t believe you.” 

“And why’s that?” he asked.

“You’re methodical. You’ve been playing some long con — I mean that we know of you infected Sam and Lily like over 25 years ago! You want me to believe you’re just infecting babies and making deals willy nilly and you don’t know how many?” Lana finally looked up from her book.

He smirked, “It has been a long time, yes,” he started as a circle around her question, “I tell you it’s hard to say because not every human is created equal, you should know that.”

“What do you mean?” Lana inquired, knowing the more she could learn about his demon ways — the better chance she had of defeating him. 

“I’ve visited a lot of children in my day. It's true — but then you have to wait for these humans to grow up which is a bore, let me tell you. And then — not all of them develop the  _ special _ abilities that I’m looking for. They can’t all be prize soldiers like Sam and his sweet little Lily… No, just because they get a little of my blood doesn’t mean they’ll be destined for greatness. Greater than their miserable, pointless little lives maybe — but greatness?” 

Lana felt like there was a new layer to his plan unfolding everyday. It made her queasy, “That’s why you talk about good ‘breeders’… does that mean you get it wrong sometimes?” she quirked a brow with a smirk. 

“Ah, that sharp tongue of yours — just like Florence,” he said in his strange reverence of her mother, “No, no, you see… you ever heard the age old adage — two beautiful people make one ugly child?” he couldn’t help but chuckle, “Well it’s true for my stock too — sometimes I get it too right and they breed a dud. But, that’s why I, in your words, _ infect so many…  _ a few lame horses won’t lose me the race.” 

“And then you focus on the strongest…” 

He gave her a wink, “Right you are, Princess. However, no matter their stock or special ability they’ll never be able to match you, don’t worry.” 

“I’m not worried,” Lana returned hardly, “Soon I’ll be strong enough to strike out on my own. Hey, maybe I’ll even start my own army.” 

Lana, of course, didn’t mean it like her Father’s army — however she used the term to goad him, unable to take her daily jab at him. 

“I would be a very proud Papa,” he returned. She could forget that often her jabs just bolstered him more — instead of tearing him down a few pegs. Well, when she finally got her hands on the cold and put a bullet between his eyes — she would see just how he looked when he knew he had truly lost.

It honestly unnerved Lana that her father probably had several dozen psychics that he could call upon whenever, but what was the purpose? Why was he acting like this? There had to be a reason as to  _ why _ he had made them in the first place, but he never told her what his true plan was.

"Why do you need them?" Lana found herself asking, not able to beat around the bush any longer. "Why make so many psychics?"

Azazel looked over at her. "Why? Because Hell needs generals."

"Okay, but why? Are you waging a war?" Lana asked again.

"We have been at war for millenia," he answered, but the look on his face said he wasn't amused by her questions, which meant she had unknowingly struck a nerve. "Why don't you go rest? You need to muster up your strength for another lesson."

What she needed, was to muster up enough strength to contact Dean.

**The Carnival  
** Lily didn’t want to be out of this, now that she knew what was going on, and came in with the day crowd while the boys did their respective jobs. She wanted to keep an eye out for any other children seeing clowns that no one else did. Dean had talked to the blind man before and tried to get onto his good side, so he was the one that he ran to, looking for a brass knife as Sam checked Cooper’s bed in his trailer for literal bed bugs, which a rakshasas would be living on. When the blind man told Dean he wasn’t sure he had a brass knife, Mr. Cooper was pulling a gun on Sam, who hadn’t found a damn thing.

Dean had though.

As he went through the chest that should have had knives in it, he found a clown costume and a wig and he immediately perked up and turned around. So, it had been the blind man all along, who wasn’t blind at all. When he took the sunglasses off this time, he looked like a normal man, and suddenly his eyes got cloudy, his face started to melt a little, and with a cheshire-like grin, he waved at Dean and disappeared, and started to attack him with flying knives, but being invisible, Dean had no idea where he was, and got out of the blind man’s trailer as fast as he could.

Sam had already run into Lily, and Dean went gunning for them, both of them a little concerned that Dean seemed so unnerved, until Dean said it was the blind man. Then all three hunters were alert and when Lily asked about the brass blades, she then came up with another idea as she looked at the Funhouse. At least in there, maybe they could catch the thing off guard.

“Hey--in there. There’s steam right? So probably some kind of pipes,” Lily spoke up, and the boys nodded and followed her in.

It unnerved them that the door slammed shut so hard behind them, but they were definitely in there with it. He was trying to distract them and give them the slip, and Sam reached up and grabbed one of the pipes, but it was too hot and he let out a yelp. Lily took her jacket off and handed it to him, Sam covering his hand with it to pull the pipe off. Honestly, Lily had to admit that it was kind of hot watching Sam break a brass pipe with basically his bare hands.

Spraying the steam at the rakshasas as a knife flew past them and pinned Dean’s sleeve to the wall, they could see his invisible figure in the hot smoke. Another knife flew past and Lily felt like she had only just  _ barely _ dodged it, and that protective streak in Sam once again became front and center. Vaguely seeing motion, Sam stabbed with the pipe, miraculously hitting the creature. Blood started to pour from an invisible wound, and a strangled sound came out before there was nothing left but a bloody pipe and now visible, empty clothes.

“I hate fun houses,” Dean told them both as Lily pulled the knife out of his sleeve and the fun house wall. “Never again, okay?”

Lily laughed. “No promises, but we’ll try.”

Nodding, the three headed back out, having to call Florence to come and get them since they had had to ditch the van and the plates, and they told her all about it on the car ride home to Bobby’s. She was proud of them, and John was too when they told him, but Dean didn’t seem as thrilled. Lily thought it might be best to leave him alone, but Sam was Sam and he wanted to talk about things right now. Lily was trying to figure out what best to say to him, but it was always best to let Dean come around on his own, because otherwise he felt cornered.

He was out working on the Impala to avoid everyone, thinking about how frustrated he was that Lana had really learned this new skill and hadn’t even come to him. Was she afraid that he was going to be too angry? He just wanted to see her and make sure she was alright...before admittedly ripping into her about how hard this was on all of them. It was probably hard on her too, but he just needed her to be back home with him and he didn’t care how selfish that sounded at all.

He didn’t care about what she could do, he just wanted  _ her _ .

“Dean?” Sam asked, taking a deep breath. “Look, I know you hate when I come to you first, but you have to know that I’m here for you, okay? I miss her too, and it’s okay to say it. I don’t want to pick a fight with you, I don’t, but I can see right through you and Lily can feel  _ all _ of your emotions. You’re not alright, and when you want to talk about her, we are here. We aren’t going anywhere, and when we can bring her home...we will.”

He nodded, just wanting to say it, and Dean felt all of his emotions that were bottles up inside of him, erupt. He took the crowbar in his hand and smashed the window of a nearby car, and then started to beat on the top of his own car over and over until finally, he let it drop. He just wanted to feel like everything was going to be okay, but for once, he felt like it might not be, and his lip trembled as he tried to take a deep breath. Maybe...just maybe...he should talk to Sam and Lily.

Even though he knew he should, he only went back in after for some food, and then called it an early night. He didn't want to talk about anything right now, he just wanted to shower off the hunt and sleep. So, he got in a shower and then drifted off into sleep, but he didn't get in the sleep he was aiming for.

It still felt like the room at Bobby’s, but when he turned over, Lana was sitting on the side of his bed with a sad smile on her face. So this was dream walking, huh? She hadn't even changed the location, she had just come to him as is and she looked exhausted. Good--beautiful still in his eyes--but she was tired. He could tell this was taking a toll, but God, he was so glad to see her.

"How dare you?" Dean asked her, feeling that little bit of anger bubble up. "This is the first I hear from you?"

Lana took a breath. "He broke my phone, never really lets me out of his sight, and this is only my second successful attempt at entering dreams."

"Yeah, you saw her first," Dean reminded her as he sat up, but he couldn't help but reach out to stroke her hair. "That was a kick in the balls."

"I wasn't going to ignore you," Lana responded, moving closer to him on the bed. "I had to do this."

Dean shook his head. "You could have let me die."

"Fat fucking chance," Lana replied, both of them smiling a little before Dean leaned forward to press his forehead to hers. "If things were reversed, you would have made a deal too, and it wouldn't have ended with some time away. I don't want to be gone forever."

"I want you home  _ now _ ," Dean responded almost immediately.

Lana smiled and slipped her arms around his shoulders. "Well, you're an impatient man, but I do love that about you." She frowned a little, however, because she felt the blood, pulling away and smiling sadly when Dean brushed the blood off with his thumb. "I have to go…"

Dean sighed, but stole a kiss. "No funny ideas, that was for me."

"I know, I know--you're still pissed," she replied, and then just like that, Dean was back to his regularly scheduled dreaming.

**Lily and Sam’s Room  
** Sam was glad that things were a little less tense than they had been before, but he was still working on it. Tomorrow he would find a way for Dean and Lily to have a talk, only because he figured they both needed it. Right now, however, his focus was all on her because she felt things when other people felt them too.

“He’ll come around,” Sam replied when Lily mentioned Dean, “I think — it was good he took some time with the Impala by himself. Dean’s always been the one who needed to come around when he’s ready.” 

Lily nodded, “Yeah, even Lana can’t completely get him out of that ‘tough guy’ routine...” she sighed. However, Sam could read the worry across her face. 

“Lily,” he gently took her arm to turn her towards him as she readied for bed, finally clean and clear of their hunt, “I think when he’s ready, you’ll know and until then... don’t worry so much.”

Lily laughed, “Easy for you to say,” she replied, “He’s broken, Sam. Like really broken.”

“Yeah, nothing that Lana’s return and a little whiskey won’t fix,” he said with a shrug, “Right now my worry is you...” 

Lily started giving him a look so he quickly continued, “I just mean...You lost Lana too, then she comes to you in a dream to apologize because she’s...working on her demon powers? Not to mention we came face to face with a killer clown...”

“Well, invisible clown,” Lily interjected, “Good stabbing, by the way,” she said, unable to forget the feeling of watching Sam go all combat-y in the fun house.

“Thanks, I’ve been practicing,” he chuckled at his reference to his entire life leading up to this case.

“I still never got my cotton candy,” Lily said with a sigh, “And that fun house — wasn’t any fun.” 

Sam brushed a strand of hair away from her face, “Maybe, when we finally do get Lana back — we’ll find us a carnival. Just sans any killer Hindu spirits.” 

“That wound be really nice,” Lily said with hope. The thought of having Lana back and their unit being complete again — doing something other than hunting was a thought that warmed her belly. Then the warm feeling began to cool when reality settled upon her and the daydream faded. “Sam?”

“Yeah?” He asked, unable to let her step away from him just yet.

“I — I don’t know...” Lily took a deep breath, finding it incredibly difficult to talk about but she knew she had to, “—I don’t know how to forgive you, at least until we get Lana back but — I miss you. So much. This is so hard,” she told him. It was more emotional than she’d prepared for her and her lower lip began to quiver. 

Sam straightened up, brushing a hand through her hair wanting to dispel any need for her to cry, “Yeah, it is, but it’s okay — Lily, it’s okay,” he murmured, “I’ll try for as long as it takes to earn your forgiveness. I wish I could take it back — it’s all I want.”

“I know,” Lily breathed. She could feel it — these things hadn’t been easy on Sam either. “I know. Can we just...” Lily felt that lump in her throat so she took a deep breath to steady her voice, “Will you just hold me?” 

Sam gave a nod, unable to express how that request made him feel. The couple managed their way to their bed and Sam pulled Lily against him — into that perfect spot where she fit so well and only she would ever fit. She pressed her forehead against his chest, her fist balling up his T-shirt in between her clenched fingers, “Just don’t go anywhere, okay? Don’t leave like Lana....” Or worse.

“Lily - I will never leave you. Ever,” Sam replied, hurt that she would even feel the need to ask. 

“Okay,” Lily murmured, “Because I don’t know what I’d do. I really don’t...” 

“And you’ll never have to,” Sam replied — wanting to give her confidence. Of course, in the back of his mind he feared it was another lie. How could he promise in their life nothing bad would ever happen? He couldn’t — but the possibility he was lying was outweighed by his desire to bring her a modicum of comfort in their dangerous and cosmically doomed lives.


	30. Pit Stop to a New Normal

**Team Yellow Eyes  
** Lana was feeling better than she had since she had made the deal. She’d gotten to apologize to Lily and see Dean, try to explain herself. Despite her physical body never having left for Sioux Falls, she could feel the ghost of his lips upon hers and she wanted to treasure it for as long as possible — she had very little else to hold onto. 

“You’re getting good,” Azazel said, surprising her. She turned around to find him leaning against the doorway,” You were gone for a quite a while. Suppose you finally went to see Lover Boy again,” he said as if the thought bored him. 

“Not that it’s any of your business,” Lana returned, “But it doesn’t matter who I’m going to see — just that I’m powerful enough to do it. That should please you.”

Not that Lana for one second cared if he was ever pleased.

“Sure, sure...” he replied but he was already bored by the subject, “I won’t deny it’s a skill to hone but we need to regain your focus — to have the ability to kill demons using only this.” He tapped his index finger to his temple. However, Azazel was pleased she was become so adept at dream walking because he could potentially use her to lure that sweet little Lily away from the Winchester boys and begin work on the other part of his hellish plan.

“And why is that the most important thing to you?” She asked. She still did not know enough of his plan and that made her uneasy. He had entrusted her with a lot of information but he was careful and she wasn’t naive enough to believe it was enough to understand his full plan. 

“It all goes back to the war,” he said simply, “You might find this hard to believe but demons are the most trustworthy of cohorts,” he explained, “We have to be better than them. The best. Ready for anything.” 

Lana knew her clock was ticking down on her time with Azazel. She was growing more powerful and sooner or later things would come to a head: would she escape? Would he release her short leash? Would be able to find the Colt and finish this once and for all?

“Isn’t that why you wanted the colt?” She asked, “They say it can kill anything, that includes demons. I mean, we used it to kill a vampire....” 

“Sure, that, and perhaps getting it out of the hands of the very people who want to see me dead? I’m ancient, Princess, not stupid.” 

Lana had yet to figure out his system: when he walked amongst humans and flitted across the country she couldn’t find a pattern. She couldn’t narrow down any home base or preferred locations — other than often dank or dirty. He was smart but she would become smarter. Besides, if his goal was to get her strong enough to  _ kill demons _ , then perhaps she could turn that around on him. But also...why would he do that? Why would he teach her how to  _ kill him _ ? She seriously wanted to know his endgame.

“Why is it so important for me to get powerful enough to end you?” Lana asked him, not even placating her words. “Not that I’m going to, but why would you want me to learn that? I  _ know _ you don’t trust me like that.”

“I also know that you need to be ready for a much longer endgame, that is more important than me,” Azazel told her, shaking his head. “This is all part of a much bigger plan. If you think I’m just going to let you kill me, you are sadly mistaken.”

Shaking her head, Lana spoke up. “You think that I think you’re going to let me  _ kill _ you? No. You’ll let me go when I get too powerful for you to take a chance. I figured that at the beginning.”

“Which is why you think this won’t change you, but it already has. You can  _ feel _ it. Power at your fingertips? Dream walking? My dear, you  _ like it _ ,” Azazel pointed out to her.

Lana couldn’t even argue with him on that, because she  _ was _ stronger, and she  _ did _ like it. She wanted to feel as strong as she did when she sent demons to Hell with a wave of her hand and thoughts. She knew that she was a different person somewhat than the one that had come here, but also there was something in her that he couldn’t filter out, no matter what he tried to do.

“But I’m also my mother’s daughter,” Lana explained, shaking her head. “When we have trained me to a point where you feel like you have done what needed to be done, I’m still going to want to go  _ home _ . Be with Sam, and Lily, and Dean. Hell, what if I wanted a family of my own? Why is that weakness? You have all of your psychic kids and what about me?”

Azazel thought that over a little. “You would want to have a child?”

He had to admit, it was a little  _ poetic _ for her to have a demonic child with a hunter, and while he’d rather it be without someone with more potential, like one of his other prodigy psychics, he’d have a lineage. He already did, but his blood would be passed  _ again _ if she procreated. Plus, she’d have something else she would want to save and in the end, taking LIlith would be a breeze. Killing someone that could threaten her family would make it that much easier for his whole endgame to come true, and it would be easy to get her there.

“What if I did?” Lana asked him with a shrug. “I mean, I’ve never really sat down and thought about it seriously but...I love Dean. I know you think you have no use for him, but what if that’s what I wanted?”

“I wouldn’t think you’d want to pass on my blood to a child of your own, Princess,” Azazel admitted, shrugging like it didn’t matter to him, even though now it kind of did. “Does it have to be with a dirty hunter?”

Lana nodded slowly. “It wouldn’t be with anyone else. I honestly don’t see myself finding anyone else.”

“Let’s practice on some humans,” Azazel said instead of answering her, rolling his eyes when he saw her face. “I picked ones you would think are bad. Come on.”

**Bobby’s House  
** Dean woke up the next morning feeling lonely, yet again, and he stayed there in bed, running his hand through his hair as he thought about Lana  _ again _ . He was always thinking about her, but he had found his other half and being away from her like this? When they were so used to each other’s touch and habits, it was hard to be away from her, but he knew it was hard for her too. He had learned over all this time together that when it came to touch, she needed him just as much as he needed her.

She was gone, because her father saw him as the weakest link.

He was still mad she would do this--she had to have known he wouldn’t be okay with her life for his life as a deal--but he also got it more than the others did. Something that her father had done to him, had put him in a situation where he had almost died on her. She felt like it was her place to fix it, because his blood ran through her veins, but she was still gone, and Dean was paying for it.

Sighing, Dean got up, answered nature’s call, and then headed into the kitchen, where he saw Florence and Lily drinking coffee together. Sam was with Bobby apparently, looking through some spell books, and Dean found himself getting coffee and standing next to Lily. Florence smiled at him and gave a nod, understanding more than Dean thought, just how he felt.

“Well good morning,” Lily and Florence told him merrily.

Dean grunted, and sipped his coffee. “Morning.”

“You look far less refreshed than I do,” Florence laughed.

That made Lily shake her head. “She got laid.”

“No!” Dean exclaimed, shaking his head as Lily and Florence laughed. “I didn’t want to know.”

“Also you’re upset it wasn’t you,” Florence smirked, and Dean snapped at her with a nod.

“You are also right,” Dean nodded, then shook his head as Florence left the room. “Lana is literally her mother’s daughter.”

Lily laughed and agreed readily, heading to the counter and handing Dean a plate with some eggs, bacon and toast on it. Sam and Lily had already eaten, but Florene had made food for Dean too a little later, so it was still hot. Why Lily was up before Dean was, was on his mind, but she was talking before he was.

“Spending more time with Florence has given me insight into her too,” Lily agreed with a nod. “Kind of makes me miss her more, honestly.”

Dean nodded slowly, realizing it was time as he took a bite of bacon. “No one misses her more than me.”

“Debatable,” Lily told him, smiling when he gave her a look. “Hey, you two are no picnic for a lone woman, alright? I really hope you don’t think you are.”

“Hush, Munchkin,” Dean said, but he nodded. “I’m tired of sleeping alone. What she did hurt--what she and Sam did  _ hurt _ \--but being mad about this deal? I know she thinks it was her mess to clean up because her father started it, but she doesn’t belong  _ away from us _ . I just want to find her.”

Lily nodded and squeezed his shoulder. “I want to find her too. Forgiving her is hard, but it isn’t impossible. Eventually, we’ll figure it out, but not like this. Not apart.”

“I mean, I get to sleep with her, so you two have more mending to do,” Dean teased, but it was a little bit true.

As far as trust went, perhaps he would be waiting for the other shoe to drop longer, but just having her in his bed again both romantically and sexually, helped him more than it helped Lily. The same thing for her and Sam. They shared a bed every night, even upset, but Dean hadn’t been able to have that. Plus Lana was right: Dean would make a deal, life for a life too. If it ever really came down to that and he could fix it, he  _ would _ . Sam was his flesh and blood...Lily and Lana had a whole other relationship.

“That’s why she came to me first,” Lily pointed out to him. “It wasn’t to slight you.”

Dean nodded slowly. “I know. She came to me last night so Sammy will get a visit anytime now. We may hate it, but they’ve become bff’s too.”

“I don’t hate it, I just hate it when they  _ side against us _ ,” Lily told him, sighing loudly. “What they did wasn’t okay, but I also know that they know that too. Problem is, we won’t know if they really learned until the next time the four of us have to figure out a hunting plan. So until then, we have to mend the other broken fences, you know?”

Dean nodded slowly. “I know. Honestly? I just want to bury it. I want to ignore it, get her back, and just cruise back into our routine. That’s all I want.”

“You know burying your trauma isn’t  _ healthy _ right?” Lily asked him.

“Sure it is,” Dean replied.

They didn’t see eye to eye on that, but they were definitely two different people even though they had things in common. It was just nice that Dean had said anything, and when Florence came back in, Dean laughed and shook his head. At least he wasn’t acting the kind of lonely that he was feeling, and Lily smiled and went to find Sam and Bobby, leaving Dean with his only link to Lana at the moment.

“So you and Bobby? Really?” Dean asked her.

Florence laughed. “I never said it was Bobby.”

“No!” Dean exclaimed, making a face. “Not my Dad!”

“You are the easiest one of his children,” Florence told him, laughing when he gave her a look. “I’m not sleeping with your father, but if my calculations are correct, I can get us within 100 miles of my daughter, and I would hope that at some point I wouldn’t see you for a bit.”

For most people that might be a weird thing for a parent to say, but Florence wasn’t like most parents, honestly. She knew that her daughter was an adult, and she’d seen throughout his own growing up, and she wasn’t in the dark of what they were doing. They were sexually active, they were in love, and Florence wanted them to make it. Florence wanted these kids to have futures and their own families, and Dean was the kind of man that she could see with her daughter. Lance had been a great guy--he still was--but he and Lana didn’t have what her and Dean had already in their shorter time dating one another.

“I would not be as cool as you if it were my own daughter,” Dean told her, shaking his head. “First boy that laid eyes on her would get popped in the mouth.”

Florence laughed and shrugged her shoulders. “I said that once too, but at some point you just want your kids to have a future. Put down some roots, have kids of their own, and have a good life.  _ The _ Dean Winchester wants to have kids? I guess I didn’t peg it.”

“I dunno,” Dean shrugged, realizing he was getting too deep and then throwing a wall up. “Guess I hadn’t thought about it until now. Not seriously, anyway. They’d get her eyes, but I mean, whatever.”

Florence knew in that moment, even though Dean immediately coughed and changed the subject, that Dean saw a future with Lana in it, and it warmed her heart because she knew Lana wouldn’t have made this deal if it was any other man...which meant they had a chance.

**In the Study  
** “You boys finding anything good?” Lily asked as she entered the room.

Bobby looked up at her and smiled. “I mean...always, but you’ll have to be more specific.”

The whole house seemed in better spirits now that the younger hunters had done a hunt and patched themselves together a little more, and so everyone was working on trying to find Lana. Yes, they would do a hunt or two or three if they needed to before they got to her, but they all wanted her home. What she had done made sense, and as upset as they had been--even though they all felt differently about her choice--she belonged home. Not with her father and a bunch of demons.

“Well, I know we’re not summoning anything again,” Lily said, looking pointedly at a sheepish Sam, “but we also can’t go running off into unknown danger either.”

“You know I’d never send you kids into anything I wouldn’t take on myself,” Bobby said in response to Lily — although Lily was mostly talking to Sam in the whole “unknown” bit. 

Lily put her arm around Bobby for a squeeze, “I know.” She kissed his cheek. Bobby was the thread of calm and level-headedness, the mage to their novice. 

“Well this is what we were looking at,” Bobby wanted to clue her in, “Florence thinks she’s narrowed down where Lana might be but while she was on her search she came across something that might be good for you kids. We’ve got a trail of severed heads and a mass of dead cows.” 

“Vampires?” Lily asked. Sam gave a small smile. To him, she still felt so new to the game and he could forget how easily she’d sunk into their life and how quickly she’d learned. 

“Bingo,” Bobby replied, “As far as Florence and I can tell — we don’t think it can be very many of them. Can’t find too many missing locals, no body trails, no sign of a large nest like you guys went up against not too long ago. Might even be an easy case, but I don’t like to have too much optimism when it comes to monsters.” 

“Probably smart,” Lily looked over a news article on Sam’s computer about the dead cows and the bereft farmer, “Why is it farmers always think disemboweled cows are the work of teenagers? Like: a mailbox knocked over? Sure. Draining cows of every drop of blood in their body? What teenager would even have the attention span?” 

Sam and Bobby laughed. Sam pulled her into his lap and she didn’t struggle. Their problems remained tucked away in a neat little emotional box to be likely ripped open at the first little snag but for now? Things were decent. 

“Humans always like the answer that scares them the least, even if it don’t make no damn sense,” Bobby replied with a sigh, “Well, Sam, see if you two can find anything else. I think I’ve got enough to run this by Dean. Luckily I think he’s almost done with that car of his so I don’t have to go find you three another van for you to ditch.” 

“Bobby—“ Sam started, wanting to explain himself again and apologize for losing a car Bobby had gone through a lot of trouble to secure, but Bobby just smiled and left the room, leaving Lily and Sam to finish any research. Or you know, just talk... Bobby wouldn’t judge. 

“I hear Montana’s pretty,” Lily said, looking over what Bobby and Sam had laid out, “And if Florence thinks it's a good idea, I’m in.” 

“Sure it was prettier before the desiccated cows,” Sam shrugged, but Lily pushed his shoulder with hers for ruining her romanticism of their travels. He laughed, “Sorry, job hazard,” he said of his pessimism. 

“Poor cows,” Lily sighed. She turned her attention away from the grim news of beheaded bodies and dead cows and focused purely on the man stationed beneath her.

“Well, as long as Dean’s on board looks like we’re headed to Montana. Maybe we can save the cows that are left,” he gave her a smile. Was it silly they weren’t also talking about the beheaded bodies of people but he didn’t need to bring the mood down — again. 

“That sounds good,” Lily said, pressing her forehead against Sam’s and closing her eyes for a moment. Sam had such a special scent. It always managed to calm her down and bring the focus back to herself — to her own emotions and to them as a couple, as two halves of a whole. 

“Not that I like when you have to fight or anything but — you wielding a machete is like really hot,” Lily smiled, “So you might not be allowed to wear any long sleeves in Montana, just a warning,” she ran her hand down the side of his face. 

“What if I get cold?” his eyes glinted. They hadn’t had a silly, flirty, cheesy love moment in far, far too long. 

“That’s why I’m here,” Lily replied plainly, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. 

“Oh, right,” he pressed his lips to hers before he could say anything else, his arms locking tightly around her to secure her in his lap. The rest of the research could wait. 

**Team Yellow Eyes  
** Lana’s power was growing leaps and bounds. She was becoming comfortable with it, to a degree. There was no turning back now but Lana was pretty sure she didn’t want to go back. Back to Dean, Lily, and Sam? Yes. Back to the old Lana who could barely register her powers, let alone vanquish demons from human vessels and dream walk? No. 

Lana had killed two people today. However, her Father had played her well just as only he knew how. He had chosen targets who were bad people that needed to be handled that had attracted evil to consume them. 

Azazel was riding high from her success in sending those demons back to hell — so she was able to sneak away for some time alone. If her family was following any sort of schedule they were more than likely asleep. Now that she had managed to get the hang of dream walking, she wanted to see them even if she couldn’t be with them or tell them where she was for fear that would ‘end her deal’ with her Father. 

She seated herself cross-legged on the floor and closed her eyes. She willed away her own surroundings as her mind searched the astral plane for those she loved tucked safely away in Sioux Falls. 

When Lana managed to locate Lily and slip into her dream: Lana found herself slightly confused. She appeared in Sam and Lily’s bedroom (in dream-land) and found only Sam asleep in the bed, “Lily?” She asked. This was Lily’s dream so she had to be around here somewhere. Lana meandered from the room and began to search the house. 

She heard rummaging, glasses clinking together down the hallway and she followed the sound. Finding herself in a doorway to Bobby’s storeroom in the cellar. Lily had yet to notice her presence, she was searching through old bottles and labels frantically, trying to be carefully and quiet.

“What are you looking for?” Lana asked. Lily, in surprise, jumped and turned around. 

“Lana!” She ignored the question in favor of jump-hugging her friend. “You’re here!” She squeezed her friend as tightly as she could, “God, I miss you,” she pressed the side of her face against her chest as if trying to merge them into one person. 

“I know, I miss you too,” Lana accepted the hug for the moment, happy to feel Lily against her — happy to feel some sort of true love and affection that was sorely missing in her current existence, “What are you doing in Bobby’s cellar?”

Lily looked up at her. She wasn’t used to ever having to lie about things but this was too complicated, too dangerous to understand. She, of course, hadn’t realized she’d been dreaming about it until Lana showed up, “We have a job, I think,” Lily replied glancing back, “Think I’m just stressed or something. Hunts aren’t the same without you.”

Lana gave a nod, “I  _ was _ surprised not to find you next to Sam.” 

“That’s still the best place to wake up, even if things are well — dumb.” 

Lana gave a smile. 

“That goes for you too. When I actually get you back, you are in big trouble, missy. I mean it.” Lily still had shit to work out with Lana but she wasn’t going to waste precious dream time hashing it out. One day they’d have her back and Lily could kick her good-looking butt. 

Lana gave a sad smile, “I look forward to it. So...what’s the case?”

“Vampires, actually, and where there are vampires…” Lily continued.

“There is a need for dead man’s blood,” Lana finished for her, nodding too.

For Lana, that was all she needed to know as to why Lily was down here in the cellar with Bobby’s things. She was just trying to prove that she was as useful as any of them, and it made Lana smile. Honestly, she wished that she was there with them so she could see just how far Lily had come, but it just wasn’t time yet.

“I wanted to tell you not to get your hopes up, but I might be home sooner rather than later,” Lana decided to say, taking a breath. “I think Dad’s whole goal was to get me stronger and used to using my powers on a daily basis. I don’t think he  _ ever _ intended for me to stay indefinitely. I don’t think he ever thought seriously that I would. We had a really weird conversation about kids that still has me unnerved.”

Lily made a face. “What kind of conversation?”

“Just...how any kid I have is carrying on his legacy, whether I like it or not,” Lana admitted, shaking her head. “I mean, in the end he’s not wrong.”

The subject of babies was still tender for Lily, but she nodded because she got what Lana was saying. It was also a better conversation than focusing on the fact that Lily was down in Bobby’s cellar. Plus, the idea of Lana coming home looking like a definite, had Lily in a better mood. They could properly heal once she came home, and Lily was looking forward to all four of them being under one roof again. Then, they could probably also properly branch out on their own once the Impala was fixed.

“At least you’re almost free of him,” Lily told her.

“Almost,” Lana agreed with a nod. “Well, I need to see Dean and then hopefully Sammy. I want to get better at this so I can stay longer, but hopefully we do this in person really soon. Be careful, okay? And make the boys let you wield a damn machete. You may be tiny, but I know you can behead a vampire if given the chance.”

Lily smiled at her, really missing  _ this _ . “At least  _ someone _ has a vote of confidence in me.”

Smiling and then stealing a hug, Lana disappeared, and Lily went back to what she was doing.

**Dean’s Room  
** Dean had been sleeping soundly when Lana came to him, and the first thing she noticed was that he was wearing boxers and only boxers. He never slept like that, but it was clear in the way he smiled at her that he had somehow planned this, and she couldn’t help but shake her head.

“Really?” she asked him.

“Hey, it’s been weeks and I knew you’d like it,” Dean replied, kissing her when she got on the bed with him. “How much time do we have?”

Lana pulled back and gave him a look. “Really? We don’t have time to turn this into a sex dream. You are insatiable. Did you know that?”

“ _ Weeks _ , Lanni…” he whined, but he sighed when she gave him a look. “For you too!”

“Of course for me too, but I am  _ not _ going to make compromising noises when my father could walk in at any moment and hear it!” she exclaimed, laughing a little. “I should have seen this coming, though. This is very, very  _ you _ . I’ll tell you what...we can have sex the second that I am home, okay? I  _ promise _ . If you would like to, we can.”

Dean sighed but then he smiled. “Fine, but get into bed with me at least. Do cold feet still work in dreamland?”

“Do you  _ want _ them to?” Lana laughed, shaking her head and crawling in with him. “You always complain about how they’re ‘cold as ice’.”

“Well, maybe I also miss the little things,” Dean managed quietly.

Lana smiled and snuggled up with him. “I miss your foghorn snore honestly.”

“Hey...be nice,” Dean responded, but he smiled as he held her. “I just wish this was real.”

They both did, but for now, they were just going to have to agree that this was better than nothing. So they talked for a little bit about the case, Dean happy to get to do something, and Lana nodding because he just needed to do something. He was still upset, and he would be for awhile, but he clearly wanted to have some sex--‘for him’ of course--for the first couple of days she was back, and  _ then _ they could fight.

“I swear though, first night back, I won’t even complain about your cold feet--promise,” Dean told her, holding his fingers up like a boy scout.

Lana laughed. “I know for a fact that you were  _ never _ a boy scout, so I don’t believe you, but you know what? I love you.”

“You are such a sap, woman,” Dean rolled his eyes playfully, but he kissed her, nuzzling her nose with his when he pulled back. “I love you too.”

“Be careful and please, please,  _ please _ let Lily fight some, okay?” Lana asked him.

He nodded in agreement, but they both knew that that was up to Sam.

**Lily and Sam’s Room  
** Lily had made it back to bed with Sam by the time Lana came to Sam, and she was glad that she had finally done this. She cared about Sam too and she smiled when he did, both of them going in for the hug and letting it linger a moment. They were separated for now, but it wouldn’t last, and they wanted to have a moment.

“I hear you have a hunt,” Lana opened up, sitting with him in the room.

Sam nodded at her. “Yeah. Vampires. Honestly, we could use it. The last hunt started to mend a lot--but it mended things that will need to be mended again once you’re back.”

“Oh, of course. Once we’re in the same vicinity again, it’ll all come up again in a different way because we’ll be together to agree on things again,” Lana pointed out, shaking her head. “Which means that until then, you need to be making sure that you let Lily fight. She needs to feel like an equal hunter.”

“I know,” Sam sighed, shaking his head. “It’s just hard for me to find the balance, but I’m trying--for her sake at the very least. It would be easier if you were around, you know?”

Lana nodded and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “We both know why I can’t be right now.”

“I know, and I didn’t get to thank you,” Sam told her. “I mean, I hate that you are gone, but I didn’t have to lose my brother. I just wish he and Lily were taking this a little better than they are.”

“I think we’re all still healing,” Lana admitted with a smile. “I just wanted to let you know that you are not forgotten, and I miss you too.”

Resting her head against his shoulder, Sam resting his head against hers and nodded, telling her that he missed her too. It was a nice moment, and then they parted amicably and Lana found herself back with her father and she sighed gently. She didn’t want to be stuck here any longer than she had to be, but she had made her bed and she was going to have to lie in it.

Sam on the other hand, stirred a little and turned to see Lily in bed with him, smiling and kissing her head gently. He knew he needed to get better at seeing her as a hunting equal, but it was hard for him. She meant the world to him, and he really wanted to make sure that no matter what happened, she was one hundred percent safe. He also couldn’t protect her, however, if he didn’t get some sleep before they headed out in the morning. That was, if the Impala was done.

**The Incomparable Impala  
** “Woo! Listen to her purr!” Dean exclaimed. He was back behind the wheel of his first love and he couldn’t wipe the smile from his face.

“Do you two need a room?” Sam asked with a chuckle. 

“Oh, come on, Sam. My ride is  _ sweet _ ! Got my ride, got a case, why shouldn’t we be happy?” Dean could not be taken down; no one would rain on his parade. They had a hunt, he had his car, and Florence swore they were closing in on Lana’s location — the only thing that could be better would be to have Lana in the passenger seat. 

Sam just shook his head. He didn’t want to take this away from Dean — he needed this. This was the most upbeat Dean had been since before they got their hands on the Colt. 

Dean’s mood was infectious — Lily couldn’t help but wish this moment would stretch them until Lana was back to complete their family again. She knew that was asking a lot but — she had hope. If the hunt was easy enough and Florence could pin-point Lana’s location it could happen. 

“It’s good to be back,” Lily offered to keep the mood up, “And going more than 65. We’ll actually get to Montana sooner than like 4am.” 

“Midnight, as of now,” Dean threw a smirk back at Lily in the rearview. 

“Great,” Sam let out a sigh, pulling up his phone again, “Give us enough time to get a decent night’s sleep before visiting the Sheriff’s office.” 

“Think they know anything the paper’s don’t?” Lily asked, leaning up to look over his shoulder.

“Hard to tell, honestly. Red Lodge is a small town, this stuff probably doesn’t happen a lot,” Sam answered, “Best we go see them just in case. Hopefully the morgue have held onto the heads.”

“It’s an open investigation, why wouldn’t they?” Dean asked, his eyes never leaving the road. 

“Wouldn’t be the first time a small town botched an open investigation,” Sam replied. 

“I want to help at the morgue,” Lily said. She knew she wasn’t any help in a police precinct because she did often look like a high schooler to old, sexist cops but at a morgue? Once they were in, they were in. And she wanted to see some severed heads.

“Don’t see why not,” Sam shrugged. 

“Hopefully you can see over the slab,” Dean laughed at his own joke, making both Sam and Lily give him a ‘look’ but Dean wouldn’t be taken down by anything. He, like his Impala down the highway, was  _ flying _ .

**Midnight in Red Lodge, Montana  
** Dean approached the motel clerk’s desk. One man, unkempt, sat behind the plexiglass reading a skin mag poorly hidden in a comic book. 

“Nice,” Dean commented with his trademark grin and a knowing nod. This startled the man who looked up. He found Dean standing next to Lily and a very tall Sam hovering near the door in the back. He looked over the three of them and closed his magazines to push his smudged glasses up to his forehead, “Can I help you folks?”

“One room, please,” Dean slapped his palms onto the counter, still in a good mood.

The clerk looked between the three of them again, “Is this one of those king bed situations? Or does that one just like to watch?” he referred to Sam as he began to ring up a room.

Dean’s smirk faded from his lips, “Woah, what?” and Lily’s mouth fell open, “ _ Excuse me? _ ” 

Sam looked up in concern.

This caused the clerk to look up in complete oblivion to the insult he had made and he gave a simple shrug. Lily knocked some brochures from the counter and stormed back to Sam.

The clerk slid a receipt to Dean who eyed him in distaste now. Dean threw a card down with a fake name and returned it with a look, “Don’t want to know what those hands have touched…” Dean muttered under his breath as he got his card back and got out of the lobby as fast as he could. 

**The Motel Room  
** “I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT LOSER!” Lily exclaimed as they entered room #2, “HE THOUGHT I WAS SOME HOOKER! I MEAN, DO I LOOK LIKE A HOOKER!? AND HE THOUGHT I WAS SLEEPING WITH BOTH OF YOU!? EW!”

“Hey now!” Dean started as he chose the customary bed closest to the door. He knew how good he was in the sack — not that he wanted to be there with Lily. That was basically his sister, gross.

Sam gave him a ‘not now’ look as he tried to calm Lily down, “He’s just a creep. I mean — Dean said he  _ was _ reading porn at work,” he reasoned with a grimace, “Probably where his mind was at.” Sam didn’t mean to excuse him, he was contemplating slashing the guys tires or something but he didn’t want Lily to feel any worse. 

Lily sat down with a huff. If only Lana were with them — Lana would have known exactly what to say to the creep to put him in his place. At the very least, she needed her friend — someone to vent to about this story. 

**Team Yellow Eyes  
** Lana could sense her time winding down with her Father. She couldn’t put her finger on it — but her powers were maturing, her dream walking was gaining strength and endurance, and she knew her Father wouldn’t let her get to a point where she became a direct threat to him. He was too smart and he had several plans still cooking he couldn’t allow to be foiled by his untimely demise. 

Lana tried not to get too eager — she did not want to get too caught up in her desperate desire to return to her family and back to the way things were and ruin everything she had worked so carefully to build during the time with her father. She had to finish strong and make sure she brought as much ammunition back to the table as she could so they could finish Azazel once and for all. 

“Lost in thought?” he interrupted. 

She looked over and with just a look gave him an answer: I don’t need to tell you. 

He gave a chuckle, “Oh, alright alright. I know, you don’t want to talk about things with your dear old Dad. But I have a little project for you. You’re coming along so nicely.”

“That sounds creepy. But, okay, what is it?” She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I want to test your instincts. One thing to know — the more powerful you get, the more danger you’ll put yourself in. Demons will want to take you down for the bragging rights and when other Hunters get wind — well, you know what that looks like…” he came to stand before her, “But for now, we’ll focus on the demons that will never be as powerful as  _ you _ .”

“Okay,” Lana said, still unsure what he meant, “I don’t think I’m following… I can exorcise a demon without killing the human vessel… I can send the demons back to hell — what more…”

“Oh, yes, yes, I know. But you need to know when you’re faced with a threat. Learn to  _ sense _ a demon in a crowd of humans. Know who they are before they know you.” 

He snapped his fingers and Lana appeared in a large crowded room. No one seemed to notice that she appeared out of nowhere. They barely seemed to notice her at all. Her Father’s voice sounded again but he wasn’t next to her anymore, “Clock is ticking, Princess. Better find them before they kill these humans you love so much…”

Lana didn’t like how that sounded, but she had to admit that even she wanted to be able to do this. It would help when she got back and she needed to know what it was that they were dealing with. With ‘demon radar’, she’d be able to check that right off or onto the list just by putting her feelers out. The only problem with that, was that she was half demon...could demons sense  _ her _ ?

That was a question that she could ask her father later.

Right now, she was going to have to hone in on a demon, and she took a deep breath before she tried to focus on everything around her. Her father had known she was his by smell back in the day, and that was how she knew Sam, Lily, Dean, and everyone important to her really. It  _ was _ a demon thing, so she wanted to rely on that as well, and started to mingle in the crowd. Bump into someone here, whisper a Latin word there, and suddenly, it was like her hair stood on end. With ghosts, anyone could feel a shiver go down their spine, but with a demon, it felt more  _ threatening _ .

It was probably the power that they were giving off, but she was pretty certain that this man that was talking to a girl in the crowd, was who she was looking for. There was a slight hint of sulfur in the smell, which made sense, but as the girl told him off and moved, she realized it wasn’t the man at all--no, the smell followed the  _ girl _ instead. So, she followed her, getting stopped in her tracks by some random guy that came over to talk to her, but Lana made up an excuse and continued, finding the girl finally, with some other guy and it did not look friendly.

Killing some random guy in a crowd definitely seemed like a demon tactic, and Lana barely got over to them before there was a casualty, which made her feel like a failure. Then again, this was the first time trying it out, so it wasn’t going to be perfect, and she casually turned her palm to the girl to stop her from stabbing him, her eyes flashing black right in Lana’s direction. Without realizing she was doing it, Lana’s matched, flashing yellow, and the girl told the guy to get lost. It was only when there was some distance, that Lana let her regain control of her hand, and she motioned outside.

“You’re not Azazel,” the girl explained when they went around the side of the building. “So tell me, how do you get eyes like that when you’re not the boss?”

Lana shook her head. “It’s not your turn to ask questions.”

“It’s cute you think you have control,” the demon laughed, but she made a surprised sound when Lana held her hand up and suddenly her airway was restricted.

“It’s cuter that you haven’t realized how outmatched you are,” Lana replied, a little smirk appearing.

The look was wiped off of her face, however, when she heard a slow clap, and she turned to see Azazel smiling at her and giving her a nod. That only annoyed her, and Lana heaved a heavy sigh, but didn’t let any part of her grip on the demon loosen.

“That’s good, Princess. Not as fast as I’d hoped, but it’s a starting point. Let her go,” Azazel ordered gently.

It was that firm gentleness that made Lana almost want to tell him to shove his order up his ass, but this was an exercise, and on some level she got that. At the same time, this demon had almost stabbed a human in cold blood for no good reason, and Lana couldn’t just let that go, could she? If she disobeyed him, however, would he find a reason to have to show her that he didn’t take kindly to being ignored?

“But I want to kill her,” Lana decided to say. “It would be the perfect time to practice more.”

Azazel smiled at her. “I appreciate the want to practice, but not right now.”

“How is this possible?” the demon asked, not even bothering to flee when Lana let her go. “A natural, living and breathing demonic child…”

The demon seemed blown away, and Lana honestly didn’t like this. She didn’t want this to spread everywhere that Azazel had a child, because then it made her a moving target. It meant that even if she went home, there would be demons gunning for her and the people that she cared about, no matter what happened from this point forward. Was that what he wanted? Was he  _ trying _ to make it so it was hard for her to go home?

“Just be happy I spared you,” Azazel told the demon, who left after nodding at him. “We should practice that until you don’t need to wander around. Too time consuming.”

Lana rubbed her temples and sighed. “You’re infuriating, you know that?”

“Part of the charm,” Azazel responded, and just like that, they were practicing some more.


	31. Munchkin Takes a Hit

**Sheriff’s Office  
** Lily liked that she could at least pose as a reporter and it didn’t seem too  _ suspicious _ . At the same time, Dean was not making this very easy. He kept stumbling over things like he’d never lied before or something, but she wondered if his head was really in it--pun intended. Still, at least they were making some kind of headway--pun  _ not _ intended.

“What about the cattle?” Dean asked since the sheriff didn’t want to talk much about the latest head. “I mean, over a dozen cases…”

The sheriff gave him a look. “What about the cows?”

“You don’t think there’s any connection?” Sam asked, shaking his head when the sheriff did. “None at all? First cattle mutilations, now two murders? Kinda sounds like ritual stuff. Like...satanic cult ritual stuff?”

The sheriff laughed, but then realized all three sets of eyes were on him. “Oh. Oh, you’re not kidding. Well then no. You wanna know how I know? Because there's no such thing as cattle mutilation. Cow drops, leave it in the sun, within forty eight hours the bloat'll split it open so clean it's just about surgical. The bodily fluids fall down into the ground and get soaked up because that's what gravity does. But, hey, it could be Satan. What newspaper did you say you work for?”

“World Weekly News,” Dean responded as Sam and Lily said, “Weekly World News,” and looked at him.

Dean paused and then smiled sheepishly. “I’m new, that’s why I’m following them.”

“Get out of my office,” the sheriff responded, motioning to the door.

Lily resisted the urge to smack Dean in the arm until they got outside, Dean giving her a look, but he kind of  _ had _ botched that up a little bit. So they headed for the morgue next and Dean insisted on taking point even though he’d messed up back with the Sheriff. Seeing the intern with a ‘J Manners’ nametag, he calculated for a moment and then went right into it.

“John,” Dean addressed him.

The intern looked at him. “Jeff.”

“Jeff, right. I know that,” he said quickly, not looking at Lily or Sam. “Dr. Dworkin needs to see you in his office right away.”

“But Dr. Dworkin's on vacation,” Jeff told him.

“Well, he's back. And he's pissed, and he's screaming for you, man, so if I were you I would…” Dean whistled and then smiled as the intern ran away, and then Lily stepped in.

“So what exactly are we looking for? Satanists mark their victims, don’t they?” Lily asked them.

Sam nodded at her. “Yeah, reversed pentacle on the forehead.”

He was actually feeling rather proud that his girl could recall that from whatever research she had been doing, and they pulled out the container that would have the head in it. All three hunters paused, however, none of them wanting to open it up and look over a severed head. It felt a little close to home with Lily, and so she motioned to Dean and waved her hands.

“You wanted to take point so  _ you _ open it,” she told him.

“Nope,” Dean shook his head, pointing at Sam. “Sam will open it.”

Sam gave him a look. “Why me?!”

“Wuss,” Dean whispered, flipping the lid off.

They all grimaced at the sight, not seeing a pentagram. Just looked like a poor girl that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and then the boys started arguing again about how they didn’t want to check and see if there was anything down her throat. Dean pointed out that it could be a wack job like in ‘ _ Silence of the Lambs _ ’, but no one was jumping to touch the head, especially Dean, who was now just quoting the movie to annoy Lily and Sam enough so that one of them would do it.

“Who is the wuss now?” Lily asked Dean, making a face as Sam put his fingers into the girl’s mouth. “Okay, I didn’t sign up for this part. You are on your own.” Taking a step back, Lily decided to look for the autopsy file instead, but looked up when Sam said he found something. “What?”

“She’s a vampire,” Sam told them, showing them the retractable fangs. “Looks like maybe this hunt is already being taken care of…”

**Bar in Town  
** Thrown by the fact that it looked like another hunter had already blown through here and taken out the vampires, the three went to a bar. They could at least wind down and regroup, but Lily was sensing something that she didn’t like. It was like they were being watched or something, and she instinctively moved closer to Sam. She also looked up when Dean immediately put his hands on the bar and looked the bartender in the eye, wondering what Dean’s next move was going to be, just out of curiosity.

“How's it going?” Dean asked, but there was no flirty tone in his voice.

She smiled at him. “Living the dream. What can I get for you?”

“Three beers, please,” he told her, holding up his fingers.

“Also, we're looking for some people,” Sam put in, giving her a smile.

She smiled right back, totally misreading the situation. “Sure. Hard to be lonely.”

Lily didn’t even hesitate. “No, that’s not what he meant. They would have moved here like maybe six months ago. Probably pretty rowdy, like to drink…”

“Yeah, real night owls, you know? Sleep all day, party all night,” Dean added, sliding her a $50 bill.

The bartender straightened up a little more, realizing that she wasn’t going to get anything out of these guys, and slipped the bill into her bra. Then she nodded, lowering her voice and leaning in so that she wouldn’t get into any trouble giving them the information, and Lily still felt like they were being watched.

“Barker farm got leased out a couple months ago,” she explained to them. “They've been here a lot--drinkers and seriously noisy. I've had to 86 them once or twice.”

Lily nodded at her. “Thanks.” With that, the bartender went to get them their beers, and Lily smiled a little as she turned to Dean. “You didn’t hit on her at all. Didn’t even eye her chest when she  _ very purposefully _ shoved that $50 bill into her bra. You’ve grown.”

“Oh, knock it off,” Dean told her, but he smiled a little. “Just not my type.”

“Mm-hmm,” Lily replied in a sing-song ``I _ don’t believe you”  _ tone as the three took a table. 

“Drink your beer,” Dean snapped playfully, leaning back in his chair. He knew he should not relax — this was too easy. They show up, get a room, someones already taken out the vampires? Even with his mistakes at the sheriff's office — this was going smoothly. Too smoothly. They could very possibly turn around the next day and head back to Bobby’s to prepare to get Lana back. He sipped his beer, pleased despite how fantastical it all seemed.

“Look guys,” Lily started after a sip of her beer didn’t make the funny feeling go away. She knew better than to keep this feeling to herself any longer, “Something doesn’t feel right,” she leaned in a little. Sam’s arm tightened around her a little as he soaked up what she was saying. Dean leaned in to match, “Like — supernatural weird?” 

Lily shook her head, “No, not exactly.” She took a chance to glance around and after a moment her shoulders dropped, “Huh…”

“What?” Sam asked, he and Dean having nearly forgotten about their beer. 

“It’s gone, the feeling’s gone,” she said, frustrated that there was nothing she could do than be confused by the unsettling feeling that turned her stomach. 

“Yeah, well, so is the guy from the corner,” Dean mumbled, eyeing an empty seat. He looked to Lily and Sam, “Looks like we’ve got a friend. So, the Raleigh, thing?” he asked, even quieter — both Sam and Lily agreed and with one last swig of beer, the three stood up from the table and took their leave.

**Outside the Bar  
** Hand-in-hand, Sam and Lily exit the backdoor and walk towards a darkened lot of cars. They were bait - but it was okay this time, low-risk and this plan had the benefit of being a vote of 3/3. Sam held Lily’s hand tightly in one hand and the hand tucked into his pocket gripped his knife, just in case. 

Lily waited for Sam’s signal. When he squeezed her hand twice in rapid succession they quickly ducked and turned, disappearing from sight. Once they were down, it was Dean’s turn to boogie. 

Dean waited for the man to be stunned, confused before he was able to get the jump. In one swift move, Dean pushed the man against the wall with his large knife pressing against his neck, “Show me your teeth!” Dean demanded as Sam and Lily returned to flank him.

“I am not a vampire,” The man replied, trying to keep his hands up to show his surrender, “Just, put the knife down.”

“Let me see your teeth,” Dean repeated, not moving to loosen the bite of his knife against the man’s neck. The man wavered but finally he raised his index finger and pushed his lip up to reveal no-fangs. Dean removed the knife from his neck but remained on guard, “Why are you watching us?” 

“Heard you talking,” the man replied, “I know what you’re looking for, why you were talking to that bartender. I know how to kill them, the vampires.”

Dean and Sam gave each other a look before they both looked to Lily. This gave the man pause but Lily gave a nod, “He’s telling the truth.”

“So who are you three?” he asked, “Besides, Hunters. What are your names?”

“The name’s Dean, this is Sam and Lily,” he replied but his brows raised expectantly, wanting an answer in return.

“Sam… Dean…. as in Sam and Dean Winchester?” he asked, a smile creeping across his lips, “I’ll be damned. You know I met your old man once? Hell of a guy. Hell of a hunter. Small world.”

“What’s your name?” Lily pressed. She knew he wasn’t lying but there was something she didn’t like about him — however she could not yet put her finger on it.

“Name’s Gordon.” He replied as the group finally gave him space to breathe.

“So those two vampires — that was you?” Sam asked. What were the odds the only other Hunter they came across in this small town was  _ not  _ the reason two vampires lost their heads? 

Gordon nodded, “Yeah. I’ve been in town about two weeks. Found the nest and everything after a long track all the way from Texas,” he said proudly.

“Alright then, sounds like we can help,” Dean said, clapping his hands together. The hunt was back on! 

“Nah, you see, I’d rather do this myself. I work better alone.” Gordon replied to their surprise and Dean’s dismay. 

“Look, man. I’ve had a rough couple months, been itching for a hunt. Let us help you — strength in numbers you know? Not often we get to team up with another hunter.” Dean offered.

“Yeah, no thanks. But I did hear about a chupacabra nearby. Maybe you can take care of that for me, save me a trip?” Gordon began walking towards his car, signaling that he was done getting to know the Winchester Tribe. 

“Real good meeting you though,” Gordon turned around just before getting into his driver’s seat, “I’ll buy you a drink on the flip side.” And with that, he drove off, leaving Sam, Dean, and Lily more confused than before.

“I don’t like him,” Lily said simply but she still couldn’t explain why.

“You think he was lying?” Dean asked with a glance her way.

Lily shook her head, “No, he seemed super truthful but — something… I don’t know.” she sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“Well I didn’t drive all the way here to hunt for some chupacabra, let’s go!” Dean called, jingling his keys and leading the hike back to the Impala. 

**Team Yellow Eyes  
** Azazel promised she was going to be practicing again soon. Despite her general dislike for him, she couldn’t deny how useful that little trick was. 

However, at the first chance at alone time after the sun had set — she centered herself and settled in to try and go visit Dean. She quickly learned he was no longer at Bobby’s and she found herself glad — he was on a hunt and distracted from their predicament. 

However, after a great difficulty of locating him she found he wasn’t, in fact, asleep. None of them were. And not only that, since she had now confidently deduced they were on a hunt she did not want to try and break into their waking minds since that could put them in danger. 

Sighing, Lana returned to herself and her stark reality. The feeling of loneliness sunk back in. However, she shrugged it off and re-centered herself, this time searching for her mother. 

**Florence’s Dream  
** When Lana walked into the kitchen it smelled deliciously of baked apples. It was bright and sunny outside of Bobby’s house. The windows were wide open and a gentle breeze rustled the curtains. It was calm and beautiful. 

Suddenly, “Lana?”

Lana turned around to find her mother with a surprised look across her features, “Oh, sweetheart,” Florence swept forward and pulled Lana into her arms.  
  
Lana smiled and squeezed her mother tightly. “I miss you,” Lana breathed. 

Florence pulled back and cupped her daughter's face in her hands, “It’s really you, isn’t it?” 

Lana nodded, “Yeah, been — working on some stuff,” she said vaguely. She wasn’t one to keep secrets from her mother but now wasn’t the time to launch a full explanation — she didn’t have a ton of time, “But I miss you.” 

“Oh, baby, I miss you. More than I can say. So does Bobby…and that boy of yours…” She smirked. 

Lana shook her head with a smile, “Yeah, I know. He’s still pissed but uh— all might not be lost.” 

Florence shook her head, “Maybe but that boy is hooked. It’s a Meckenzie thing,” Florence winked, “You might have screwed up in his eyes but he’ll forgive you… Winchester men just need a little time to work things out — you know — emotionally.” 

“No kidding,” Lana laughed. What was that saying?  _ Truer words had never been spoken? _

“Please tell me you’re alright,” Florence asked, dropping into a note of seriousness for a moment, “He may be a thing of evil but I know how much he reveres you. How special he thinks you are.”

“I’m okay, Mom. I promise,” Lana told her, not wanting Florence to worry anymore than she should, “And I think I’ll get to see you soon, okay? And then I can hug you in real life.”

“I would love nothing more my angel,” she reached forward and brushed a spot of blood from under her daughter’s nose, “The call dropping?” 

Lana nodded sadly, “Yeah. I love you, Mom.” 

“I love you, Lana,” Florence responded and in a seamless fade — Lana disappeared and Florence was left to her pleasant dreams unattended. 

**Team Yellow Eyes  
** When Lana returned to her waking world, she felt a swell in her throat. Seeing her mother had been harder than she’d expected. She missed them all so much and no amount of power or control could assuage that feeling…and the guilt that accompanied it. She put her hand to her mouth to stifle a cry: this was not the time nor place to let herself feel for her family. There was Bobby and Annie she could see too, but seeing her mother had only reminded her of just how much she had left behind and she knew more than ever that she needed to figure out exactly what she needed to before she went back.

Getting up, Lana wiped her eyes on her sleeves and then took a breath, heading to see her father. “We need to talk.”

Azazel looked at her. “About what?”

“About all of it. You talk to me in riddles and truths around hiding secrets, and I’m tired of it,” Lana told him, shaking her head. “You  _ need me for something _ .”

He looked at her for a moment, knowing that she was right, but also not feeling that he could trust her enough to tell her the whole plan. If she knew, she would just try to thwart him more than she was doing already. Still, she wasn’t stupid by any means and Azazel took a breath before he motioned for her to sit. Cautiously, Lana took a seat and gave him her full attention, hoping to at least get  _ some _ answers.

“This war is more than us,” Azazel decided to say, looking her in the eye. “There is more in this world than just demons and ghosts and humans, and all those so called monsters that your kind hunts. There are more powerful things. More devious things. Smart and methodical beings that you need to be prepared for.”

That made her tilt her head and scrunch up her nose. “What are you talking about?”

“I can’t tell you my endgame, Princess, but I  _ can _ tell you, that demons are the least of your worries,” he explained to her and his tone told her that he was telling her the truth. “The ball has already started rolling and you are in the middle. I want you to be ready to fight back.”

She didn’t like what she was hearing. What was as bad as demons? He was making it sound like there was something else that they had yet to face and for once, she knew she could really trust him. Yes, he was a manipulative asshole, but he was also clearly trying to protect himself...but from  _ what _ ? It made Lana pause and then she took a deep breath.

“You said that you have an endgame and I get that...but how do Sam, Lily, the other psychic kids fit into this? How do  _ I _ fit into this? I was an  _ accident _ . You didn’t mean to have a kid with Mom--you didn’t. I was a happy accident that got you all giddy. So what? You want me to be a general? Of a demon army? Why would they follow me?” Lana asked him, throwing her hands up in the air. “They know they can’t trust me. They make a wrong move and go against me or my family, and I will send them straight back to Hell.”

Azazel nodded at her. “I’m counting on it. What you don’t understand is that what you want and what I want are going to one day match up. It will come to a head, and at the end there will be a new beginning.”

“More riddles,” Lana told him with a sigh, but it was more than she had gotten at the beginning. “So this war...we would be part of it no matter what?”

“Beyond a shadow of a doubt,” Azazel answered quickly with a nod. “Now you’ll be better prepared for it.”

Lana didn’t like that this felt like it was a straight trajectory to what he wanted, but he was honestly making it easier for her to fight a war that she knew very little about. So if he truly believed that a war was coming, and he was certain that his plans would aid in the war, then she believed him, but what about this prophecy? That didn’t sound like a good thing, and it made Lana frown.

“What about the prophecy?” Lana asked him. “How is Sam and Lily having a demonic baby a good thing?”

Azazel gave her a look. “Another miracle to fight? Another powerful child? How is it a bad thing?”

“What a question to ask me,” Lana said gently, shaking her head. “It just doesn’t feel fair to them to put that on their plate. They didn’t ask for any of this.”

“Neither did you, but here you are,” Azazel pointed out. “Not everything makes sense at first glance. There’s more to it than that, but you’re not ready to know  _ what _ .”

**Mill - Night  
** Dean really wanted to do this hunt because he needed the distraction, and so they tailed Gordon, finding him attacking a vampire. All it took was one mistake near an electric saw, and the vampire had Gordon pinned. He would have gotten decapitated if Sam hadn’t pulled him to safety, Lily and Sam turning to see Dean grabbed the vampire and toss him onto the saw, decapitating him.

It wasn’t the kill, it was the swell of pleasure and killer instinct that Dean displayed that made Lily purse her lips together. Sam was looking at his brother in shock, neither of them really prepared to see Dean throw himself into this hunt like this. It was like he was determined to show off--to prove that he was every bit the hunter that his father was, and to make Gordon like him.

After a beat, Gordon nodded. “I guess I owe you guys that drink.”

**Back at the Bar  
** Lily still wasn’t keen on Gordon, but she felt like it was rude to not at least accept the drink that Gordon was offering them. She kept her chair close to Sam though, because she could feel that Sam was worried about Dean just as much as she was. Maybe a little more, but they both felt like Dean was getting a little too gung ho about this case just because he had someone else around to praise him...to compare him to his father, whom he still idolized.

God help him.

“I got it,” Gordon told Dean when Dean tried to pay.

Dean looked at him. “Come on.”

“I insist,” Gordon told him and smiled at the waitress when she gave them their drinks. “Thank you, Sweetie.” Raising the shot glass to the other hunters, he smiled. “Another one bites the dust.”

“That’s right,” Dean smiled at him.

Sam and Lily hesitated on drinking the shot, but Dean and Gordon slammed the shot back, and then Sam and Lily drank it slowly and tentatively. The more Gordon and Dean talked about the kill and how awesome it was, the more Lily squirmed in her chair. Sam didn’t like it either, because yeah, they were hunters, but they didn’t need to  _ relish in the kill _ like this.

“You all right, you two?” Dean asked Lily and Sam, who were being deathly quiet.

Sam nodded at him. “We’re fine.”

“Well, lighten up a little, Sammy.” Gordon told Sam.

“He's the only one who gets to call me that,” Sam responded quickly.

Gordon gave him a look. “Okay. No offense meant. Just celebrating a little. Job well done.”

“Just seems a little in poor taste is all,” Lily spoke up, trying to figure Gordon out. She didn’t like the feel of him at all, or the way he was suddenly looking at her so condescendingly. “What?”

“Nothing,” Gordon said gently with a shrug. “Just I guess there is a reason most hunters are men.”

“Excuse me?!” Sam asked, feeling protective and shaking his head. “Decapitations aren't my idea of a good time either, for your information.”

Gordon rolled his eyes at him. “Oh, come one, man, it's not like it was human. You've gotta have a little more fun with your job, you two.”

“I’ve been trying to tell them that this whole time!” Dean exclaimed with a smile. “You could learn a thing or two from this guy.”

“Really don’t want to,” Lily responded, standing up and smiling a little when Sam stood up too like a gentleman. She rested her hand on his chest and shook her head. “I’m going to go turn in and call Florence.”

Gordon looked at her and tilted his head. “Florence? Damn, her too? You don’t have Lana hidden around here somewhere do you?”

Lily didn’t like that he had heard about them at all, but it made sense that if he knew John, and had worked with him on a hunt or two, then he probably knew Florence and had heard about Lana before. He didn’t know what she was, which was great, but it made Lily’s skin crawl what he’d even asked. It also broke her heart that pain crossed Dean’s features, for him to just shut it down. That was like a nail in the coffin and Lily couldn’t be in this bar anymore.

“She’s on her own hunt,” Dean said with a shrug, flicking his nose with his thumb like John usually did. “She’d probably love to meet you though. Firecracker that one.”

Gordon laughed. “So I’ve heard. Florence is a proud mama bear.”

“I should go back to the motel and see if I can’t pin down the vampire nest location,” Lily told them, shaking her head. “Can I borrow the keys?”

Dean nodded and tossed them to her. “Sure, Munchkin.”

“I’ll go with you,” Sam said with a nod, resting his hand on the small of her back. “Nice meeting you.”

Dean watched them go, Gordon asking if it was something he said, and Dean just waved it off.

**Back at the Motel  
** The car ride had been pretty silent, only because Sam knew that Lily didn’t want to talk about Gordon or how rude he was. She just wanted to get back to the motel, and after giving him a kiss when they got there, she went to get some ice, calling up Florence. Something about Gordon was  _ off _ , and she wanted to know more about him.

“Florence?” Lily asked when the call connected.

Florence laughed and nodded. “Yeah, sweetheart. What’s wrong? You’ve got that voice on.”

Lily sighed and then smiled. “Nice for someone else to get it. I...we ran into Gordon. Do you know a Gordon Walker? He acts like he’s met you and John.”

“I know Gordon,” Florence said, shaking her head.

“Great. Your tone suggests you don’t like him?” Lily asked, nodding when Florence confirmed her suspicions. “I don’t like him either. Just a feeling.”

“Well go with your gut on this one, sweetheart,” Florence shook her head. “Don’t work with him. He’s a good hunter, but Hannibal Lecter’s a good psychiatrist. He is dangerous to everyone and everything around him. If he’s working on this hunt, then you let him do it and you turn around and you come home. Do you hear me?”

Lily was now even more worried about what she was hearing and she tucked her hair behind her ear as she held the phone up to her ear. She had thought that there was something off about him, and to have Florence tell her to just come back home, she wondered if she and Sam should have left Dean with him. He had found another hunter to try and idolize and it was  _ not _ a hunter that he should be wanting to be like.

“I hear you,” Lily told her with a nod. “We’ll see you soon.”

Florence nodded. “Good. See you soon, sweetheart.”

Lily nodded, pocketing her phone before going back to what she had told Sam she was going to do. She really needed to get them some ice, but she could feel something again--like someone was watching her, but it was a supernatural thing this time. She needed to get back to Sam, but when she turned around, a large man blocked her and slammed a telephone book down on her head, knocking her out.

**Back and the Bar  
** Dean and Gordon were having way too good a time talking hunt after hunt, and laughing about each ending, Dean feeling so much more at ease. Talking about hunting monsters and not having to talk about anything remotely in the realm of feelings.

“How'd you get started?” Dean found himself asking him.

Gordon nodded at him. “First time I saw a vampire I was barely eighteen. Home alone with my sister. I hear the window break in her room. I grab my dad's gun, run in, try to get it off her. Too late. So I shoot the damn thing. Which of course is about as useful as snapping it with a rubber band. It rushes me, picks me up, flings me across the room, knocks me out cold. When I wake up, the vampire's gone, my sister's gone.” He didn’t seem to like talking about it, but he took a breath and looked at Dean. Try explaining that one to your family. So I left home. And then bummed around looking for information: how you track 'em, how you kill 'em. And I found that fang--it was my first kill.”

“Sorry about your sister,” Dean told him, knowing he’d go postal if anything happened to Lily.

Gordon nodded again. “Yeah. She was beautiful. I can still see her, you know? The way she was. But hey, that was a long time ago. Hey...you said you knew Lana.”

“What? Yeah,” Dean nodded, glancing at his beer and then back at Gordon. “Our mother’s were friends. Florence grew up in the life, you know? Taught my Dad what he knows when my mother died. Lana and I hunted a few times together before we became a foursome but like I said...she’s doing her thing right now.”

“Feels like there’s more to the story than that,” Gordon told him, smirking a bit. “You sweet on her or something?”

“Or something,” Dean laughed, shrugging and taking a swig of beer. “She’d love this though.”

“Oh, I have no doubt. She probably gets what we do: this job is black and white, and it isn’t a crime to love what you do,” Gordon smiled at him.

Dean made a little face at that. “I mean...I don’t think she’d see it like that exactly. She works in shades of grey a lot, but she definitely loves the job. Hell, she turned down a white picket fence life with a guy just to keep hunting things. Probably could have beheaded that vamp all on her own without the saw.”

He was talking too much about Lana, however, and it was obvious that he had a thing for her. Gordon could tell, but he could also tell something else was going on, but he didn’t want to pry, instead, he told Dean that hunting was just in their blood, and Dean nodded thoughtfully.

**Vampire Nest  
** Lily started to feel the world come back to her, as well as a throbbing headache.

As her senses returned to her one by one, she realized she was secured tightly to a chair. A man stood across the room from her, watching her carefully. She knew instantly he didn’t like her — but he also feared her. Strange.

“Good, you’re awake,” a woman’s voice sounded from the other side of the room to draw her attention away from the brooding man in the corner. 

“Who are you?” Lily asked warily, her vision still having trouble focusing on a particular point. 

“My name is Lenore, and that’s Eli,” she greeted, coming to stand merely a few feet before Lily, “And your friend killed one of us tonight.” 

Lily’s heart sank, “You’re a vampire?” she asked. This did not bode well. She was outnumbered, overpowered, and in some mystery location: not the greatest predicament she’d ever found herself in. 

Lenore nodded once, “Yes, and you’re a hunter. I’ll admit, you’re different than some of the other hunters we’ve come across but its the company you keep that worries us most.” 

Lily was sick and tired of people underestimating her but that was an argument for a different time. She had much more pressing issues than this woman’s perception of her. 

“Sam? Dean? They’re good people, I swear.” Lily replied, “The best, actually…”

“And the other…” Lenore interrupted. 

Lily’s brow furrowed for a moment as she had to think what Lenore could mean: Lana? But Lana wasn’t here — how could she know about….?

Gordon. 

“He’s not with us,” Lily replied more quickly than was necessary, “I don’t know him,” she tried to explain, “But I know he was the one who…”

“Who killed the others, yes.” Lenore finished for her, “And that’s precisely why you’re here.” 

Lily swallowed hard. Revenge? The last thing she wanted was for Sam to have to find her severed head somewhere. She had to talk her way out of this, “Look, we caught wind of the beheadings and…”

Lenore leaned in and searched Lily’s face with her eyes, “You’re good. Which doesn’t make sense when considering your chosen occupation. But that’s exactly why I think you’ll understand… We don’t kill humans.”

Lily was surprised at the turn this conversation had taken, “Wait — you don’t… you don’t feed from humans?” 

Lenore shook her head, “No. You see, I’ve found that it is feeding to survive that always gets us killed in the end… by people like the men in your group.” 

“ _ You _ killed the cows, didn’t you?” Lily asked. It was like a light had gone on and she could suddenly see clearly.

“It’s disgusting so I hate to admit it but yes. It sustains us and keeps hunters off of our scent. Well, usually.” she replied.

“Okay… but… if this is all true then why am I here? Why am I tied up and why does my head hurt so freaking bad?” Lily asked. She didn’t have to interrogate Lenore — she could feel the woman was being truthful. It explained why the should-be powerful man in the corner also felt fear of the 5’2” girl tied up in his midst. 

“You’ll have to forgive Eli… we had to get you here somehow and well — you’re usually not who we deal with,” she gave a small smile, “And we had to be sure you would listen. You might understand we can’t take any risks.”

“Yeah,” Lily replied sympathetically.

“The most important thing is that we’re leaving. Tonight,” Lenore told her, “And we would appreciate it if we didn’t leave with a tail.” 

Lily nodded slowly, “So you’re — you’re going to let me go, aren’t you?” she asked, her body coming to relax more in the chair. She no longer sensed a threat from either person in the room. 

“Yes, we are. Eli is going to take you back to your men and all we ask in return is that you stop them from following us. Let us disappear into the night. Can you do that?” 

Lily nodded, “Yeah. Look, I know what it might look like but — we spend all of our time and we sacrifice our lives to hunt evil and you’re — you’re not evil. I can sense it.” 

Lenore gave her a half smile, “Good. Now, you’ll forgive us if we’re not ready to fully trust you,” she motioned with her head and Eli approached with a blindfold, “But you have my word you will be promptly returned, unharmed.”

“Okay,” Lily agreed as Eli blindfolded her before untying her from the chair and leading her back to a waiting vehicle. 

**The Motel Room  
** Dean had received a frantic phone call from Sam while he and Gordon bonded over war stories. Lily had gone out for ice and hadn’t returned. Gordon, eager to help ((narrator gives a Jim Halpert face to the camera)), offered to drive Dean back to his room to aid in the search. 

When they’d arrive Sam was pacing in a panic and Dean flew into the room, Gordon hot on his heels, “What the hell happened?!”

“She went out to get ice and talk to Florence — when she didn’t come back I went out to look for her and I found the ice bucket and her phone,” he said with Lily’s cell still clutched in his hand, “Nothing else. No clues, no trail… She’s just gone, Dean!” 

“Alright, alright!” Dean’s mind began to race, “Sammy, she’s alright. She has to be — if they wanted to hurt her they would’ve done it then and there, okay?”

“It was probably the vampires,” Gordon spoke up, “Think about it — we kill one of their own tonight… they catch one of us away from the herd…”

Sam’s face paled. 

“You said you think you know where that nest is…” Dean started. Gordon nodded, “Well, I’ve narrowed it down. You got a map?” 

The boys cleared the table with one sweep and laid out a map of the area. Gordon began pointing along a desolate interstate, “I know they have to come in from the South… and I’m certain there’s no activity beyond Mt. Maurice,” he pointed into a patch of green. 

“That leaves us with what… that’s still 10 miles!” Dean exclaimed. Sam was bent over the map as well but he was too worried to be of much help. How could he have let this happen? Right under his nose — he knew better and now Lily was in the hands of bloodthirsty vampires. 

“Yes, but,” Gordon continued, his finger drawing along an offshoot barely visible on the map, “Here… bunch of old farms dating back a hundred or so years. Lot of land — I haven’t been able to search them but it would be the perfect place for a bloodsucker to hide out.” 

“We can take two cars? Cover more ground,” Dean started. 

**Outside the Motel Room  
** Eli had dropped her off down the street, causing Lily to walk the last little bit to the motel. Which, honestly, she didn’t mind. She understood his need for caution and she felt sick to her stomach. Not because she had almost befriended two vampires tonight but because she had been taken. Again. She’d been gone for long enough that Sam would have discovered her disappearance and now she’d never be allowed to go out on her own and that was the most frustrating part.

She reached motel room #2 and wavered outside. She could hear frantic voices inside and she realized Gordon’s car was parked next to the Impala. Great. She needed to tell Sam and Dean about Lenore and Eli but she didn’t want to do it in front of Gordon. Especially after what Florence had told her. 

Pulling on her big girl panties and taking one deep breath, Lily pushed into the motel room. The three men stopped dead in shock and confusion. 

“Lily!” Sam exclaimed, rushing to her. He pulled her into his arms and immediately began checking her for damage, “Where have you been? You were gone — your phone-!” 

“Yeah, I—“ Lily glanced at Gordon and then back to Sam, “Can I talk to you? Outside?” she felt dizzy from the amount of worry that radiated off of Sam and with a small smile to Dean who was still processing her unusual return, she pulled Sam out of the motel room and down the way to a bank of landscaping so she could have something to lean against.

“Lily, where were you?” Sam asked, unable to let more than a foot open up between them before he pushed himself back into her orbit.

“I was — I was at their nest, Sam.” Lily replied to Sam’s utter surprise. He could barely process how that was true and yet she was sitting before him unharmed so Lily continued, “Lenore and Eli, that’s their names. They wanted to tell me — to tell us… they don’t kill humans, they’re not evil.” 

Sam scoffed, “Lily. They’re  _ vampires.  _ They’re lying to you to throw you off their scent.” 

“Then why am I here talking to you and not drained of all my blood?” Lily asked which made Sam pause, “They didn’t even bare their fangs, other than to prove what they were… they’re leaving town tonight and I want to make sure they do — unharmed.” 

Sam ran his hands through his hair, still unable to fully process this, “And you’re sure?” he asked, not speaking to her innate ability. 

Lily nodded, “Yeah. They were — they were afraid of me, Sam. Afraid of us.” 

Sam gave a heavy sigh. It was a lot to swallow and he was still reeling from her disappearance (and surprise reemergence.) 

However, heavy footfalls interrupted their conversation when Dean appeared, “Lily what the hell is going on?” he asked. Another tidal wave of worry and concern hit her and she took a seat on the ledge next to her for support. 

“We need to stop hunting the vampires,” Lily replied, “They’re not evil. I spoke to them tonight.” 

“You  _ what _ ?” Dean replied, now going on the defense, “What?! Did you meet them out for a drink?!”

“They kidnapped me,” Lily replied simply. She didn’t like Dean’s tone. Something was off about him — this wasn’t the usual Dean response to her brush with death — he was hardened, serious, and aggressive. Much like Gordon… “And then they let me go.” 

**Team Yellow Eyes  
** Lana wondered if this is what Lily felt like all the time. Her father _basically_ kidnapped her, began training her on her innate powers while only giving her tiny shreds of information. He would cryptically talk about some master plan but then wouldn’t give her the full story, or teach her how to reach her true full potential — she was going to have to hug Lily extra tight when she got back: being left in the dark and underestimated sucked. 

Her Father hadn’t given her much more since the last time they talked. Her mind was reeling about one particular thing that he said:  _ beyond a shadow of a doubt  _ she, Sam, and Lily were involved in what was brewing no matter what actions they took. Demon baby or no, Lana’s full powers realized or not — something was coming. 

That’s when she had an idea. It wasn’t going to get her out of there but she also had the instinct that she was very, very close to leaving on her own accord. Lana settled down when she was sure it was late enough in Sioux Falls and sought out Bobby. 

**Bobby’s Dream  
** She appeared outside — in the back part of Bobby’s house near the cars. Just like her mother’s dream: it was bright and sunny. She could even smell the crisp rural air that blew around her. 

“Lana?” she heard from behind her. 

Even in a dream, when she turned to face Bobby he had a look of caution across his weathered features. 

She gave a smile, “Yeah, it’s me. Like, really me. Well sort of,” she couldn’t help but laugh at her bad explanation. 

Bobby finally smiled and he approached her, “How the hell are you, kid!?” he pulled her into a hug. Just as quickly he pulled back, “You been to see Flo yet? She’s worried sick.” 

“Yeah, yeah I have,” Lana assured her. “Look, I don’t have a lot of time but I feel like you might be able to help even before I get back.” 

Bobby wanted to ask about her return but he could sense the importance of the business so he started, “Go on…”

“My D- Azazel keeps talking about things that are coming. A war — says it's greater than him and all the demons,” Lana hoped she was paraphrasing with enough information to help Bobby understand, “He says that no matter what we do it’s coming, we’re involved and it’s happening. But he won’t give me much more. I know he’s trying to prepare his little psychic army for it and that somehow Sam and Lily’s baby is important. But—“ Lana took a deep breath, “I know we still have to find a way to finish Azazel… but something’s coming Bobby and we need to start preparing for it. It’s bigger than him and…”

“…and we best cover our butts,” Bobby gave her a smile and a beat to catch her breath, “He say anything else that might be helpful? I can start looking but that’s quite a haystack you’ve built, kid.” 

“Nothing specific. He said there was more to this world than demons and ghosts, monsters, and humans. That they were more devious and smart. So we’re not looking at our usual suspects.”

Bobby brushed his fingers over his beard, “Alright. Gives me an idea where to start at least. Maybe your Mom might even be able to lend a hand.”

“If anyone could…” Lana gave a smile. 

“Oh, hey kid…” Bobby started and Lana knew what exactly he referred to.

She brushed her hand under her nose and gave Bobby one last smile, “Tell my Mom I love her.”

**Team Yellow Eyes  
** Lana was forcefully returned to the land of the living and she sighed, wiping away the last of the blood. She wasn’t sure she would survive this ordeal with her Dad if she hadn’t learned how to dream walk. And now —she wasn’t only able to tell her family she missed them — but to get them started on a mystery that would soon engulf them all in some terrible war.

Honestly, Lana just wanted to know what the Hell was coming for them all, but she just couldn’t figure it out. He said there was more than the demons and the monsters, and what he was talking about seemed like some kind of Armageddon, but that would mean...Heaven and Hell. It would also mean trying to further figure out why her father would think that in a situation where it was literally Heaven versus Hell, she would choose to fight on Hell’s side. That wouldn’t be like her at all.

“How can I get better at dream walking?” Lana asked when she found her father looking over a very old book.

Azazel sighed and looked up at her. “Time. It takes time, because the more endurance you have, the better you will be at maintaining and changing your surroundings. For now, you’re seeing where they are, but you can make them see whatever you want. First, you have to get strong enough to control how much time you have on your own. So, patience is key.”

“I’m not the most patient of people,” Lana told him, making a face.

“You don’t have to tell me: I can tell,” Azazel laughed, shaking his head. “You’ll get there.”

Lana nodded, but then she took a breath. “What if I don’t?”

He hadn’t been expecting to hear that question come out of her mouth, but he closed the book he was looking at and tucked it under his arm. It was a book that he kept close to him and never let her see, and she wondered if maybe she had this all wrong. Perhaps the answers were all right there in front of her the entire time and she’d just been relying on his answers, when she could have gotten so much more. Later though. Right now he was actually talking to her in the kindest voice he’d used since she’d gotten here.

“You’re acting as though you have to have a skill set, Princess, and you don’t,” Azazel informed her, shaking his head. “You are an extension of me. All of your powers are right there at your fingertips, you just have to give in. You just have to accept that you are in fact  _ incredible _ . The only thing holding you back, is that voice in your head that’s telling you that demonic automatically equals bad. Evil.  _ Unnatural _ . Everything that you can do, you could always do, you just have to let yourself do it, and then keep up with it. Use it here and there. It will eventually be the most natural thing to you, but you have to accept yourself.”

It was hard for Lana to hear such a truth come from him, but he had a point. All this time she was acting like he had to help her to do things that she wasn’t sure she could do, but her DNA was half from  _ him _ . She  _ was _ demonic, whether she wanted to be or not. She hadn’t had a choice in the matter, she was simply born that way. No matter what she wanted her moral compass to be, she would always be  _ half demon _ . So, all these things that she could do, she was going to have to surrender herself to, but that didn’t mean losing who she was, or what she thought was right and wrong. It was simply using the talents that she naturally possessed, because it was in her blood.

“Armageddon,” Lana said slowly, nodding when he did. “Revelations says that at the end there is paradise. I assume that the Bible translation isn’t one hundred percent accurate, but...if there is a bigger war coming, then that means there’s a bigger picture too.”

“Bingo,” Azazel snapped, nodding at her. “We are but a footnote in a much larger story.”

Lana nodded slowly and then chewed on her lip. “So...Lucifer--the Devil--is he real? If Hell is real...if Armageddon is coming...then why me? Can’t the devil do it himself?”

“You’re looking at it in a very one dimensional way, sweetheart. He is real, though, yes,” Azazel explained with a nod. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because if he is real, then he’s a  _ fallen angel _ ,” Lana responded with a shake of her head. “Which means that angels actually exist. It means Sunday School wasn’t lying…”

Azazel shook his head gently. “Of course Florence took you to church.”

“Well now it feels like I have more questions…” Lana told him, sticking her hands in her hair and shaking her head. “Also how do I meet a freaking angel?”

**Back at the Motel  
** Lily was trying to figure out why Dean was being so damn hesitant about this, and she took a deep breath before she looked him square in the eye (or as square as she could get). “They aren’t the enemy here.”

“Oh yeah? And who is?” Dean asked her harshly. “Gordon knows this hunt better than we do. He’s been hunting them for a year.”

“You’re seriously going to take his word over mine?” Lily asked him, narrowing her eyes when Dean shrugged and then nodded at her. “Are you kidding me? Even Florence says he’s bad news, okay?”

Dean winced but quickly regained composure. “I’m sure you misheard her.”

“No, I definitely didn’t, but you know what’s worse than that? The fact that after all of this, you’re believing some asshole you just met over me,” Lily told him, feeling pain settle in.

Dean was frustrated too, because two women that he respected were telling him he was wrong, but his pride wouldn’t let him see it. Then Sam started to go off because Lily clearly believed this whole heartedly, and he wasn’t about to be on the wrong side of her again.

“What is it with you and this need for validation from hunters?” Sam asked his brother. “If Lily says that she doesn’t like him, and Florence gave her a warning about him, then we need to listen. You’re acting like this guy is on Dad’s level and he’s  _ not _ .”

“Excuse me?” Dean asked him angrily.

Sam nodded, standing his ground. “He’s a poor substitute for Dad, Dean. He’s not even close--not even on a good day. He’s relishing in the kinds of things that Lana would disapprove of. Are you that mad at her, that you’re going to ignore everything she stood for? If Lily says these vamps are good then... _ we listen to her _ .”

“You’re seriously going to bring Lana into this?” Dean asked, getting angrier and angrier by the moment.

“Of course I am! Look, last hunt, I thought we were all mending, but this time? You’re not seeing clearly. You’re just not,” Sam told him, shaking his head. “I believe Lily. If she says we stop, then we stop.”

Lily nodded at that. “I promise I’m not just saying it.”

“You haven’t liked Gordon, since the moment you met him…” Dean pointed out.

“And I’d like to think by now that you trust my instincts,” Lily responded, feeling the tears come because it didn’t seem like she was swaying him.

Sam ran his hand down his face. “I know it’s been hard lately--for all of us--but you can’t just fill up that hole inside of you with whomever you want. It’s an insult to everything we have come to be since Lana told us who she really was.”

That felt like the final straw for Dean, who was the one to take the punch this time, his fist connecting with Sam’s jaw rather hard. Sam paused, but he wasn’t going to take the bait here, and he shook his head as Lily’s hands flew to her mouth. She hated this. Seeing them fight like this was the worst thing for her, and she didn’t have Lana here to help break them up, so that fell squarely on her right now.

“You can hit me all you want,” Sam managed, holding his aching jaw, “but it won't change anything.”

Dean took a breath. “I am going to find that nest. Where is it, Lily?”

“No,” Lily told him, shaking her head. “I’m not telling you anything about it.”

As Dean started to protest, Lily brushed past him angrily, heading back into the motel room and looking around to find Gordon gone. He had clearly been listening to everything that had been said, and if Lily were him, she would have left too knowing that everyone distrusted him so much. The problem was that he was probably going after them, and after a quick look for the keys, they realized that Gordon had taken them with him so he wouldn’t be followed.

“I really hate this guy,” Lily mumbled, but it was loud enough for Dean to hear her.

Dean sighed loudly and they followed him out to the Impala, where Dean was now going to have to hotwire his own car just to get them there. Not to mention that Lily  _ had _ to give up the nest location now, whether she wanted to do that or not. It might take more convincing on her part, but maybe when they got there, she could remind Dean that shades of grey existed in  _ everything _ , and he’d help her to save them.

Save vampires...wow, she really didn’t expect to ever feel this way.

“I can’t believe this,” Dean grumbled and he fiddled with the wires. “I just fixed her up too.”

Lily shrugged her shoulders. “Feels like karma to me.”

“Not now,” Dean told her sternly. “So where were you?”

“All I know is I went over the bridge and it was like...four and a half or five miles away from the farm they were in,” Lily sighed, shrugging when he gave her a look. “What? Sam has always said to make sure to pay attention to every detail, so I timed it.”

Sam smiled proudly at that. “That’s my girl. Think you can point it out on the map?”

Lily nodded, “I can do my best. Probably good enough to get us there,” Lily took the map and began using her finger to follow the road lines over the bridge until she came to an area about 4ish miles out, “There,” she tapped, “It’s gotta be there. There was a — big dip where their drive met the road,” she added. 

Sam leaned over to kiss her temple. He was simultaneously really proud at her instincts and still reeling with relief that she was kidnapped and returned unscathed by a band of vampires. Lily gave him a smile. Dean had unceremoniously usurped Sam’s role at the top of her shit list so it was easier to let herself be loved and protected by Sam, despite her fear she would be back to square one with being left behind on hunts and being constantly underestimated. 

“Dean, I’m serious,” Lily started after Sam took over the map to co-pilot, “We can’t hurt them.  _ They’re good _ . We have to stop Gordon from hurting them.”

Dean didn’t reply. He pushed the pedal down a little harder and the Impala picked up speed. Lily leaned back, her stomach churning: what if they were too late? 

Finally, the Impala came to a grinding halt outside a house and both boys looked at Lily for confirmation that this was indeed the house she had been captured. However, the presence of Gordon’s car outside told them they were probably in the right place — how he figured it out, they weren’t sure. He really  _ was _ good. 

Lily jumped out of the car, surprising both men as she ran for the door, throwing the screen open.

“Lily!” Sam called, clamoring to go after her. 

“Damn it!” Dean called, following Sam’s lead as they ran clueless into a vampire nest. When they hit the door, they heard a scuffle. Lily yelled, “Hey! Get away from her!” before she let out a yell and the sound of something heavy clattering to the ground. 

“Lily!” Sam called as Dean yelled out, “Gordon?!” 

Sam and Dean came to find quite a scene in the kitchen of the dilapidated home. Lenore was tied to a chair next to Gordon who held Lily in his grasp with a knife to her throat. Dean’s gun was out in an instant, “Hey, Gordon! Let her go, she’s one of us.” 

Gordon gave a smile, “She wants to stop us from doing what we do best,” Gordon responded. Sam felt a fire in his belly and he watched both Gordon and Dean, waiting for the right moment to pull Lily out of harm's way, “But these things are evil… and I can prove it…”

He moved the knife from Lily’s neck but the relief was short lived because he made a significant slice down Lily’s arm and pushed it out towards Lenore. Gordon remained shielded behind Lily, knowing Dean was likely to take a shot before he proved his point if he dared let Lily go. Lily shrieked in pain, unable to tend to her new wound as Gordon held her at knife point with one arm and the other held her wrist out to Lenore like an offering. 

“Gordon — don’t make this any worse… don’t make this harder than it has to be. Let Lily go, I don’t want to have to shoot you,” Dean said. Sam was slowly inching forward, ready to take Gordon’s head off with his bare hands. 

“You wouldn’t do that, would you, Dean? Shoot one of your own kind for some vampire?” Gordon returned. Lenore’s fangs had drawn out at the scent of Lily’s blood dripping inches in front of her face but she tried to cower away and she refused to take the bait despite the pain and desperation.

“Look! Look, she’s not evil! Let me go you asshole!” Lily struggled a little but she couldn’t overpower Gordon or his XL hunting knife. 

“Quite a mouth on this one. Small but I guess that’s how you like ‘em Sammy, eh?” Gordon taunted. Lily found it strange how much Gordon seemed to like Dean but dislike her and Sam. Not that Lily had any love to return. 

“Gordon, just let her go. Both of them,” Sam said, trying to keep the bite out of his words but it was growing harder by the second. 

“What will it take for you two to see the truth? Will it take this monster tearing into your girl here to convince you? Because if that’s what it takes — that’s a sacrifice we have to make. This job is too important, too dangerous to play in shades of gray…” Gordon continued. With that, he made another slice on Lily across her chest. Lenore screeched again, her fangs painfully erect from her gums as the smell of blood splatter against her made her go crazy. 

Lily felt hot tears hit her chest and she wished her power was something other than  _ feelings _ . Because right now she felt so damn helpless.

“Gordon,” Dean cocked his gun, “I’m going to ask you one more time. Let Lily go, unharmed, or I will shoot you,” he gritted his teeth, the glamor of his ‘new friend’ fading away as he began to see Gordon for what he really was: an actual monster.

“Dean, you know better than this —“ Gordon clicked his tongue. However, with just a look between Sam and Dean: they sprang into action. Sam used a bottle of holy water from within his jacket to squirt it into Gordon’s eyes which made him loosen his hold on Lily to tend to his burning eyeballs, “Argh!” 

Lily dove away from Gordon into Sam’s arms who quickly rushed her away behind Dean who pointed the gun directly at Gordon’s head, “Uh-uh,” he started angrily as Gordon recovered, “Put the knife down, Gordon. C’mon. You’re already screwed here, man.” 

Gordon held up his hands before putting the knife onto the table, “You disappoint me, Dean.” 

“OH SCREW YOU!” Lily yelled from the next room as Sam tried to coax her out of the house — but she wasn’t leaving without Lenore. She burst back into the room as Sam tried to stop her but he couldn’t manage it, “Don’t you talk to him like that! Dean is a better hunter and a better man than you’ll ever be!” Lily was letting loose. She couldn’t reign in all of her (and all of their) emotions any longer. She might be very  _ very _ mad at Dean but that didn’t change how she truly loved him, how she truly felt about him when he wasn’t being dumb, “You’re a villain! You hide behind your weapons like you’re some sort of hero but you’re a monster! A monster!” 

Gordon watched her, a small playing hidden on his lips, “I’m not the monster here,” he said, surprisingly calm. 

“Lily, I got this, okay? Sam — get Lenore out of here.” Dean managed to say.

Lily looked at Dean in surprise when he mentioned saving Lenore. Sam went over and untied Lenore and picked the feeble vampire up into his arms being covered by Dean and his gun. Lily attended to Lenore the best she could, forgetting about her own gaping wounds. 

“You and I,” Dean said as Lily and Sam finally left the house, “We need to talk.”

**Team Yellow Eyes  
** Angels. 

That was a tough pill to swallow. Weird, for a half-demon who had been fighting mounters her whole life but angels was — it seemed impossible. More impossible that this was the first time she was hearing about it — and Lucifer? The Devil — the  _ actual _ Devil.

Her head was spinning, to say the least. 

“Can’t you hear that?” her father spoke after they’d been quiet for a long while. He had gone back to his book and she’d been lost in thought but she was brought back down to Earth.

“Hear what?” She asked. Was this another test? A trick? Was there some demon lurking nearby that she would have to suss out? Some new super-hearing situation she didn’t know about?

“The clock ticking,” he replied, his yellow eyes flashing, “On your time with me,” he said. Her lips parted in surprise as he continued, “You’re almost done. How’s it feel?”

“Wait, what? Just like that? There’s so much you haven’t told me!” Lana said. Of course she wanted to leave but she also knew how important it was to learn where the Colt was or how to finally kill Azazel no matter what war was brewing on the horizon. 

“There are some things you will have to learn for yourself, Princess. Daddy can’t hold your hand through every step,” he gave her a wink that made her shudder. However, she leaned forward, unable to help her curiosity. 

“So, what? You’re just going to let me go? Drop me at some bus station like I’m not your prodigy?” she asked, wondering what he could mean by “soon”. 

“You’ll always be my prodigy. My finest work but like I said - there are other parts to play in this grand show.” he gave her a wink.

His words made her sigh, not because she didn’t want to go, but because she’d just figured out something monumental, and she didn’t know how to process it. Of course she had faith--Florence had instilled her with it out of her own fear of having a half demon child, but still--she had it. She’d never seen an angel to prove the theory right, and she didn’t like that her father was making it out like they were manipulative, but did that mean that her part in all of this was part of  _ the _ war?

“What makes you so sure I’ll live up to what you want me to do?” Lana found herself asking.

Azazel looked right at her, yellow eyes peering into hazel. “My dear, I have nothing but faith in you and in the fact that you would do anything to save your family. What’s coming next is downright biblical--literally--so I’m working on all of the pieces. Hell must be ready for what is coming.”

That was just it though, because if he knew she would do this, then whatever he was preparing for, had to scare him too. An army? Hell would need an army for a war, but then where did she come in other than a general of sorts? She refused to lead an army of demons for  _ the devil _ . So was it something that came before that? Lana knew that more than ever, she was going to have to brush up on her religious history.

**The Farmhouse - Morning  
** By the time Sam and Lily had attended to making sure that every last one of the vampires was safe, the sun had come up, and they returned to the farmhouse to find Gordon properly tied up. He and Dean had clearly had quite a chat, and yet, Lily couldn’t find it in her to feel any bit upset about it. This was what Gordon deserved for what he had done to her, and for hunting creatures that were just trying to survive more peacefully than killing humans.

“Did Lenore get out okay?” Dean asked them.

Lily nodded at him. “All of them did. We made sure of it.”

“Good, then our work here is done and we need to go and get you properly patched up,” Dean told her, looking at Gordon. “How you doin’ there, Gordy? Gotta tinkle yet?” he asked, smirking a little when Gordon looked up at him. “Well, get comfy. We’ll call someone in two or three days to come and get you.”

Nodding, he took Gordon’s knife and stabbed it into the table in front of them before he looked up to see blood staining Lily’s shirt. He couldn’t help but feel entirely responsible for it, especially because he had honestly gone into this whole hunt without his right head on his shoulders. Everything that Gordon had said had sounded nice at the time, but he knew that moving forward from here, he could  _ not _ discount what Lily or Sam said to him.

“Let’s go,” Sam told his brother.

Dean nodded, but he grabbed Gordon (chair and all) and walked him over to knock him out against the wall, setting the chair back down and  _ then _ deciding that he was ready to go. After all, they had to get Lily patched up, and even so, Dean found himself stopping. Lily winced as she got into the car, but her eyes were on Sam and Dean the whole time regardless.

“Sam? Clock me,” Dean said with a nod.

Sam scoffed and shook his head. “You know what? No.”

“Come on!” Dean protested, motioning to his face. “I won’t even hit you back. Freebie.”

“You look like you just went twelve rounds with a block of cement, Dean. I'll take a raincheck,” Sam told him, shaking his head again. “I really should just because of how you treated Lily but...I’m not going to fight you anymore today. For  _ her _ sake.”

Nodding, Dean could understand that. “Fine...but I wish we never took this job. I wish we’d left when Lily said that Florence wanted us to. This whole thing jacked everything up, and you know that the first thing that Lana’s gonna hear about from Munchkin, is that I punched you, and then she’s gonna punch me.”

“She’s not going to hit you,” Sam laughed, shaking his head. “I will pray for you though, because she’s gonna be pissed as Hell you didn’t listen. She is the absolute, most grey area in our lives, Dean. You’re  _ in love with her _ , and she’s the spawn of the things we hunt. When she hears that even for a moment you became Dad...just...did you learn a lesson?”

Dean nodded slowly. “Yeah. I mean I enjoyed killing that vamp, Sammy. I did...but nothing is black and white--not a damn thing.”

“Good,” Sam told him with a nod. “Come on. I’d love to stay and debate how much of a dead man you are, but I have to get the woman I love healed up.”

Nodding again, Dean followed him to the car, getting into the driver’s seat and dangling the keys. Lily smiled even though she was pissed at him, letting him start to talk because she knew that he needed it. She, on the other hand, needed to be patched up, and she just wanted to go back to Bobby’s. She wanted Lana back, and she wanted hunting to be less emotional than this had been.

“You didn’t kill Lenore,” Sam offered, looking at Dean from the passenger seat.

Dean nodded slowly. “But I wanted to. Every instinct told me to kill her--to kill all of them.”

“Part of you is in anger overdrive,” Lily told him, shaking her head. “What matters is that in the end you made the right choice, but you also hurt me, Dean. A  _ lot _ .”

Somehow, Dean was going to have to make this up to her, but he really didn’t know how.

**Bobby’s House  
** Ever since Lily had told Florence that they had run into Gordon, Florence had been worried about them, like the mama bear that she was. She wanted to know that everything was alright, and had practically been waiting by the phone since she and Lily had hung up. Eventually, Lily called, and Florence was glad that they were alive and headed back to her and Bobby. Now, she could focus on cooking with Bobby, and she told Lily to get some rest, smiling and then frowning when she noticed it was an unknown number.

“Hello?” Florence answered.

Lana smiled and nodded. “Hey, Mom. Guess who got a new phone.”

“I’m surprised he let you,” Florence admitted with a smile. “It’s good to genuinely hear your voice, however. Why’d he let you have a phone?”

“Because I think he’s done with me. He’s trying to act like I have more time to practice, but I can tell in the way he’s starting to look over his shoulder. He’ll be right on to the next thing and I don’t want that next thing to be Sam and Lily,” Lana sighed, shaking her head. “Can’t say I don’t wanna be home though.”

Florence took a breath. “Should I tell the others?”

“Not yet. The first thing that Dean will do is turn the lojack on, and I want to try and figure out where the Colt is before I leave,” Lana admitted with a little smile. “I’ll make it up to him by doing a dream walk tonight.”

After a quick catch up and then letting Lana go, Florence was over the moon when the Impala finally pulled up to Bobby’s. She was waiting at the doorstep to greet her second children.

“What on God’s green Earth—“ Florence started as Lily stepped out of the Impala with a blood stained shirt. All three looked worse for the wear but only one of them was covered in blood, “What happened?!” She demanded, flying straight to Mama Bear mode as the boys extracted themselves from the car and Dean went around to grab the bags —he was not ready to face Florence when she learned the entire story of what had happened with Gordon and the vampires. 

Lily let out a breath, “I think I need a drink,” she told Florence who wrapped her into a hug with a smile. Sam hovered nearby, glancing back at Dean who was heartily stalling at the boot of the car.

“Sam Winchester you have some explaining to do,” Florence threw over her shoulder as they disappeared into the house, leaving Dean behind.


	32. You See Her Too, Right?

**Inside  
** Lily had peeled another ruined shirt from her body and Florence went about helping clean her up and disinfect the large, nasty gash that nearly spanned from collarbone to collarbone. Sam had a hard time looking, feeling responsible for the damage to his girl. 

“This is....something. You said Gordon did this?” Florence asked in disbelief, “I mean I knew he was bad news but attacking another hunter?” She clicked her tongue, “That’s unheard of,” she wet a rag with hydrogen peroxide and gave Lily a small smile, “This is gonna sting a bit.” 

Lily grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut, peeking one eye open, “Okay, ready.” 

Sam reached out and took her hand, holding it in his as Florence disinfected her wound, hoping that it wouldn’t scar the pretty girl. She went next to the less severe one down her forearm, “This doesn’t look too bad,” She inspected, “Already seems to be closing up,” she rotated Lily’s arm around a bit, “But... I think I’d like to stitch a section of this up, here,” she explained to both Sam and Lily’s dismay, “It’s really deep.” 

Lily shrugged, not wanting Sam to worry anymore than he was, “I’ll be brave,” She told Florence. Florence smiled and cupped Lily’s hand in her face, “I know you are. Alright, let me get a few things and we’ll get to it. Also — gotta find that good whiskey.” She gave the pair a wink before she set off for the proper tools. 

“Lily, I’m so sorry,” Sam said the minute Florence had left the room, “This is my fault. I should’ve made Dean listen...”

Lily squeezed his hand, “Sam — you had nothing to do with this. This is a hunter who wants to kill no matter what the collateral damage is... how could we have known? Even Florence didn’t think he was this bad...” she offered. 

Dean appeared in the room after having dragged all of their stuff in the house and hearing an earful from Bobby outside. Dean paled when he looked at Lily; now that her wound was clean and exposed he could see the true damage. He hung his head, unsure of what to say. 

“Sam, could you give us a minute?” Lily asked, giving Sam a smile, “Maybe help Florence find the really good whiskey?”

Sam wavered but he knew this was for Lily — not Dean. So he nodded and gave her hand one last squeeze and with a kiss on the forehead he moved to follow Florence out of the room. However, he stopped a few steps from Dean and gave his brother a look that told all but more than anything it let Dean know of his guttural disappointment. 

Finally, Lily and Dean were alone. It was quiet in the room for a long moment before Dean couldn’t take it anymore, “Look, Munchkin, I’m sorry—“ he started. 

She stood up, seething as the movement caused the residual peroxide to burn her wound, “I know,” she started. She knew he was sorry. She knew he was beyond regretful, but that didn’t matter right now, “Dean,” she started, having to steady herself and her voice. She couldn’t break so soon — she had something to say, “I won’t minimize Gordon’s role in this but neither will I minimize yours. This,” she pointed to her chest now likely to scar from a large knife being slashed across it, “— is because of you.”

Her words cut Dean like a knife — as if he was to be doomed to have a scar to match, “I’m— I know. I should’ve listen to you and Sammy and I—“

“Yeah,  _ you should have. _ You know how my feelings work — you know I would never try to interfere unless something was wrong. You discounted me at every turn and not only could it have gotten Lenore killed — it could’ve killed me.” She felt the first waver of her voice as she looked at the man she loved like a brother — even deeper than that for their lives made their connections run deeper than normal. And yet he’d trusted a man he’d know for less than a day and he’d poised himself on the thrill of the kill and threw her to the wolves.

“I know,” Dean said. His eyes were red and it was clear he was fighting back other emotions that had been threatening to break through ever since the accident, “I know and I can’t express how sorry I am. How truly sorry I am.”

“Do you know —“ Lily felt tears sting her eyes but she pushed through, “Do you know what it was like, after the accident? When I was the only one conscious? Having to play Sophie’s fucking Choice trying to make sure you three lived until the ambulances arrived? Watch them split us up as you bled out and not knowing if any one of you would ever wake up again? If you’d make it long enough for me to say goodbye?!” Her voice raised louder and louder as she told her story. Dean remained quiet, his eyes welling with tears because he couldn’t imagine if the roles had been reversed. How would he have reacted if he had the three people he loved the most bleeding on the pavement and he was helpless to do anything? 

“Clearly you don’t! Because if you did, maybe you wouldn’t have been so eager to throw yourself in with some reckless, bloodthirsty hunter over your own family! Look, Dean, I know I’m not Lana — and I’ll never amount to what Sam means to you but I thought we were family too! I thought—“

“We are—“ Dean replied hardly as both of their defenses began to break. Hot tears dripped from Dean’s cheeks into oblivion, “You are a part of this family,” he said with hard emphasis on every syllable.

“No!” Lily replied, tears streaming from her eyes, her eyes red from strain, “No! That’s just it! You have to prove it, Dean. You can’t just say nice things and think it’s going to be okay! Family doesn’t do what you did! How could you?! HOW COULD YOU?!”

Dean opened his mouth and closed it a few times but he was wordless. He looked at her — hurt, embarrassed, desperate but they were at a stand-off. Finally, he turned on his heel and left the room without another word, unable to respond or offer anything more to her. 

Lily, heaving breaths, realized a moment later that her emotional exertion had caused her chest wound to open again, a few drops of blood leaving a bright red trail down her body to stain her already-ruined bra. 

Florence appeared a moment later. She set aside all of her supplies and pulled Lily into a hug, not caring if she got blood on herself as well. She kissed the top of Lily’s head as she began to sob, “It’s okay, sweet girl. You did good,” she rubbed her back, “It’s all going to be okay.” 

**Team Yellow Eyes  
** Lana felt more control with a phone in her back pocket although she had yet to call those she truly wanted to talk to — even if she risked trying Sam or Lily’s phones... if Dean found out it was all the same. He wouldn’t rest until he tracked the phone and she was too close to getting out unscathed with their deal intact for him to ruin it. 

However, she had meant it when she told her mom she would dreamwalk to see Dean and try to comfort him, to get him to hold on just a little longer. All she needed to do was find the Colt’s location and she could walk away from her father with an ace up her sleeve and a done deal. 

Lana gathered herself for her demonic meditation and was happy to find her family all together in Sioux Falls for the best that she could tell. She was getting quite skilled at her dream walking.

But when she found Dean, he wasn’t asleep. However, he was clouded, upset, but alone. Using her father’s advice — trying to think about her power about being an extension of her whether it's demonic or not — she pushed into Dean’s head while he was awake. 

Dean paused as she appeared before him and he glanced around, his brow creased in confusion, “Am I — is this a dream?” He asked. He wanted the answer to be ‘no’. He wanted her to be back and for this hell to end but the way the air felt around him...he knew the answer.

“Yes,” Lana told him, “For now, it’s a dream.” She stepped forward, pushing into his space and brushing her fingertips over his forehead, “Is something wrong?” She asked. Dean hung his head and she pressed her hand to his chest, “Dean...” 

Dean took a deep, ragged breath, “I screwed up, Lanni. I really... I really stepped in it.”

It was the way his voice sounded and the look on his face that got her worried, and she took a breath before she sat down next to him. Man, if she hadn’t been able to do any of this, how would he be? Still mad and lashing out at everyone and everything? Would he think she was dead? All she knew was that he needed her right now, and she wished she could be there for him for real, and not just in this space between being asleep and being awake.

“Start at the beginning,” she whispered, running her fingers through his hair.

He nodded, running his hand down his face. “That vampire hunt? Well, it turned out the beheaded people  _ were _ vampires. Stepped right into another hunter’s hunt.”

“You’ve done  _ that _ before,” she teased, smiling when he smiled too.

After Chelsea had died, Lana had been doing her own hunt when Dean showed up in town looking for things to kill, only to realize she was already on it. He should have known, but part of him had wanted to see her too. Sometimes, she wondered how much of their bickering had stemmed from the conflicting feelings of what hunting was and how into each other they kind of were. That automatic throwing a wall up, and then being in the same place together for too long had made that wall crumble and here they were now.

“Yeah, but this guy was methodical. He’d been tracking them for over a year and it turned out they weren’t even hunting people--they were feeding off of cows,” Dean explained, shaking his head. “But I was seeing red. I just heard ‘vampire’, and I needed it to be black and white. I needed it to not be complicated.”

Lana nodded, cupping his face. “I’m assuming this is where you stepped in it?”

“I got Lily hurt,” he admitted, nodding when Lana tensed automatically.

Lily was the  _ last _ person that any of them wanted to have got hurt, and she wasn’t sure what she was about to hear, but Dean immediately told her that Lily was fine and everything was going to be alright. Though when he said the last bit, it was clear that he didn’t believe it.

“How?” Lana asked him slowly.

Dean sighed soundly. “Gordon--the other hunter. He was so determined to show us that the vampires were evil that he cute her. Tried to entice the leader to feed from her, but she refused.”

“That is some control,” Lana pointed out, shaking her head. “You promise she’s okay?”

“Yeah, but it’s  _ directly _ my fault. She told me she didn’t like him--your mother told us to drop the hunt and not work with him--and I couldn’t do it.” He admitted to her. “I needed it to be us versus them.”

Lana nodded and then shook her head. “You can’t discount Lily’s feelings. Hell, my  _ mother _ backed her up and you still trusted a stranger over your family. I can’t tell you that’s okay. Quite frankly, I’m fighting the urge to slap you upside the head. What if he’d killed her to prove his point?”

Dean moved away from her and stood up, having been thinking about that since Lily had told him the same thing. He was the one that was always going on and on about family and then when it mattered, he’d ignored his family. Part of him wondered if it was a defense mechanism--if he was pushing her and Sam away on purpose deep down--but even if it was, that didn’t excuse his behavior.

“Why did you do it?” Dean asked her suddenly.

Lana shook her head. “Don’t even try. You don’t get to turn this into a pity party because you ‘should have died’. Even if you had died, I would have brought you back. You keep thinking over the situation and trying to find a way that I would have stayed, but there isn’t a situation. There isn’t. I will never be ready to lose you.  _ Especially _ not because of something my father did.”

“Does your own life really mean so little to you?” Dean asked her, turning to face her. “Do you really think that your life is worth mine? Because it’s not. I was expendable and you should have left it alone.”

“I’m not going to apologize anymore for it,” Lana shook her head. “I would have done it for any of you. What you’re mad about right now, is that you love what you should hunt. Don’t tell me it hasn’t crossed your mind.”

Dean gave her a look. “You are  _ not _ what I should hunt.”

“Of course I am!” Lana replied, standing up too. “I’m a half demon  _ abomination _ . I was a  _ mistake _ . I was an  _ accident _ . Do you think the greater plan of the world included me? Because it didn’t. Demons can’t even sense me, Dean, they have to  _ smell me _ . I was so much of a hiccup that I don’t even work the way that most creatures in this world work. I’m not even trying to feel sorry for myself, I’m just telling you that if you didn’t know me...”

Nodding, Dean heard what she was saying loud and clear and he couldn’t argue with her because he knew that she was right. He didn’t even know everything that she could do now, and if he was any other hunter, he would have hunted her down somehow. The problem with that, was that other hunters would do the same, and what if they knew? What if they found out?

“I don’t know where to go from here,” Dean told her honestly, running his hand down his face again. “I just don’t.”

Lana nodded too, stepping up to him. “I don’t either, but you  _ cannot _ keep doing this to Lily. Between me leaving when I said I wouldn't, Sam being over protective and now you doing this, she probably doesn’t feel like she can rely on any of us. We can’t let that happen.”

Nodding, Dean brushed a drop of blood from her nose. “Not as much as last time.”

“I’m getting better,” Lana replied, rolling up on the balls of her feet and stealing a kiss. “Make it up to her.”

“Bossy,” Dean whispered, but he nodded, kissing her one more time before she was gone.

**Lily and Sam’s Room  
** After getting patched up, Lily was exhausted and sore, and Sam had brought her food in bed. He wanted her to rest, and honestly she could use it, but she was having a rough night. Everything with Gordon had been rough, and she wasn’t really looking forward to another hunt any time soon. Whatever it was in Dean that made him feel this thirst for hunting, was spilling over into life and she was  _ exhausted _ .

Part of her just wanted things to go back to normal.

But what was their ‘normal’ now anyway?

“You look contemplative,” Sam said as he ate a bite of pasta.

Lily nodded slowly, trying to figure out how to say what she wanted to say. Something truly bad could have happened to her had Dean not snapped out of it, but would this ever happen again? They were supposed to all have each other’s backs no matter what happened, but it felt like they were stuck right now. Something was off between all of them, and she just wanted it to stop.

“Flor said she’d take care of Gordon,” Lily said gently, shaking her head. “Said she knows people. There’s this place where hunters can go.”

Sam nodded slowly. “I suppose that makes sense. She got chatty fixing you up before I got back.”

“I was asking questions,” Lily admitted, hearing the exhaustion in her own voice. “I know I came into this late, but I’m a quick study. I feel like I have to prove myself over and over every time we get a hunt, but I am getting  _ good _ at this. I’m relying on instincts, I’m keeping information in my head, and yet Lana was the only one who ever let me take point on anything, and even then, I knew that if the going got rough, she’d smother me with protection too.”

“Lily…” Sam said gently, nodding when she held her hand up.

“No, Sam,” Lily shook her head. “I don’t like being treated like a child. I know Dean teases because I’m small, but I’m not a kid. I’m not  _ weak _ . This is never going to work if you all always feel like I can’t handle myself. In any given situation, I don’t want to always be the one that everyone is  _ worried about _ . Don’t you get that? Then to top it all off, I finally had input and Dean ignored all of it, just so he could have some random hunter give him praise.”

Sam nodded slowly. “I know. The whole hunt really  _ did _ mess everything up.”

“We can’t just blame Gordon,” Lily told him gently, closing her eyes for a moment then sighing. “I just want to eat, okay? I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

Sam sighed but he nodded anyway. He would not argue with her request to drop it — he could see how plainly exhausted she was and he wanted her to rest, to put her mind at ease for a second. He knew he was at fault too — his desire to protect her obviously made her feel weak and he didn’t want that to happen but he didn’t know how to explain to her that her safety and well being outranked damn near everything. 

Lily pushed the food away from her, not feeling hungry anymore. A few bites of carbs had filled her up and she leaned back again as the weight of her whole body dragged her down — drained of any energy. 

Sam sighed and moved the food to the nearest surface and sat back down at her side.

“You don’t have to sit with me if you want to go eat or talk to Bobby or whatever,” Lily said, knowing her rest and recovery was a bump in the road of their search for Lana and overall lifestyle. 

Sam shook his head, his shaggy hair feathering around his ears, “No, I want to stay here. You can sleep. I’ve got my phone. I won’t be bored.” He said, wanting to urge her to sleep. In truth, he’d probably just watch her sleep but he knew she would fight it if she thought he was worrying too much.

“You should look up any nearby cliffs,” Lily burrowed herself beneath the blanket, only her head and one hand sticking out above the blanket against the pillow. 

“Cliffs?” Sam’s brow furrowed as he rested his hand on the fluffy mound that encased her hip. 

“Yeah, so I can push Dean off of it,” she mumbled grumpily. She closed her eyes and her whole body shuddered in exhausted relief. 

Sam chuckled, “I’ll find you a mountain,” he teased, squeezing her side gently. 

“You’re too good to me,” she murmured, already being lost to the land of sleep before she could respond further. Sam came around to sit next to her on the bed, pulling out his laptop and resigning himself to some research and news-catch up while she slept soundly next to him. 

**Team Yellow Eyes  
** Lana was not happy when she returned to her reality, to say the least. Her mind reeled with everything Dean had spilled onto her: Lily’s injury, his reckless behavior, his loneliness, and the burgeoning fear of what would happen to their lives when other hunters finally caught wind of who and what she was: what would Dean do then with those ‘shades of grey’?

She took a few deep breaths and knew she had to go see Lily. She wondered if she had the strength for it but she was determined enough to try. 

Re-centering herself, Lana traveled back to Sioux Falls and was happy to find that Lily was, in fact, asleep. Stepping into her dream was seamless. 

**Lily’s Dream  
** In Lily’s dream raged a terrible storm outside of Bobby’s house. Thunder cracked in the sky, and rain beat down against the windows, something fierce. The house creaked and moaned to the whistling winds. Lana sighed — she knew what Lily must be feeling and it broke her heart. 

“Hey,” Lana opened, wanting to coax the girl into some form of comfort when she found Lily in her room. 

Lily looked at her for a long moment with tired eyes, “Are you back?” She asked, unable to parcel the dream from reality right now.

Lana shook her head sadly, “No, not yet. Soon, I know it’s going to be really soon...” she came to sit on the side of Lily’s bed where Sam had previously occupied, “But I went to see Dean and he said you got hurt and I had to check on you.” 

Lily’s lower lip wobbled and she nodded, “I’m okay though,” she said, her voice cracking. The simple love and attention that Lana offered to her without needing anything in return made Lily emotional. This entire hunt had scared Lily — she was thrown off of her normal trusting and loyal mindset and she didn’t know what to do with those shaken foundations. 

“You don’t look okay,” Lana said kindly, reaching forward to brush a strand of hair from her face.

Lily sat up, wanting to be closer to Lana. As she did, the blanket fell away to reveal he nasty gash across her chest — complete with sixteen stitches (clearly her mother’s work) that closed up the end of the wound. Lana’s jaw fell open — she had lost her control for one moment of shock, flickering in place. 

Luckily, Lana caught herself and resettled herself into Lily’s dreamscape and reached out for the other girl’s hand, “Lily I’m so sorry.”

Lily shrugged, “It doesn’t hurt that bad...really,” Lily offered, “I just — I got scared, you know? It’s one thing to be underestimated but I never...” she took a deep breath so she could finish speaking without crumbling to pieces, “I never ever thought he’d put me in danger like that.” An unshakeable trust had been broken and Lily didn’t know how to move forward. 

Lana pulled the girl into a hug and Lily broke a gentle sob. Both girls could feel the missing piece: the difference between dream and reality but this was the best they had for now and it would have to do. They were lucky to have this — Lana couldn’t imagine Lily being totally alone right now without her, even if Florence and Sam were likely to be at her beck and call after this as she’d expect. 

“Lily...it’s okay,” Lana breathed into her hair, “It’s okay... Don’t be scared. I’m going to be back soon and I promise I will never ever let anything like this happen again,” she said. Could she truly promise something of this magnitude? No. However, with Lana back in action she would never let anything like this pass through her so long as she was alive and kicking. 

“Please come back,” Lily whimpered after a long sniffle, trying to gather herself. It felt good to cry to Lana — she felt as if the woman truly understood her and wouldn’t just try to bubble wrap her — but that Lana would actually try to help. 

“I know, I will. Soon. You just gotta hold on a little longer, okay?” Lana replied, “And don’t you worry. I am going to kick Dean’s ass...”

Lily let go a little laugh at Lana’s tone, “I know...” she wiped her tears away furiously, “I can’t wait to watch.”

“I promise you’ll have a front row seat,” Lana reached up to help wipe some of the girls tears away from her cheek. Lily sighed, reaching up in return to wipe the blood away from Lana’s lip. Her sad eyes cast down again, knowing Lana had to go — the glaring reminder this wasn’t even real.

“Remember what I said, okay? I promise. Soon,” Lana told her, leaning in to kiss her forehead before she disappeared and left Lily to fade back into blackness while Lana crashed back down into the reality of her surroundings with a bloody nose.

Everything felt like it was still falling apart, even if Dean was alive and kicking, but it was in fact  _ Dean’s fault _ , that Lily was in a way right now. He had been so blinded by his need to hunt that he had hurt part of their family and while Lana knew he was going to obsess about it, she was also  _ angry _ . That wasn’t just a wound, that was a deep wound, and it went farther than just the surface. This was bad, and Lana didn’t want to be away that much longer.

**Bobby’s House - 2 Weeks Later  
** Florence had insisted that Lily rest before they threw themselves back into the life, Dean working on some of Bobby’s cars in the junkyard, and Sam keeping himself up to date on things. John was off on a hunt of his own, and Florence was pretty sure that she knew where Lana was...or at least where she had been next. Her phone was still a secret, but Florence had sent Lana all the numbers that she needed.

While they were healing, Sam had been thinking a lot about everything, and about their losses as well as their victories. Sam was convinced that Dean needed to re-center himself, and so he had been trying to figure out the best way to do that. Without John here to consult with, Sam had come up with the idea to go and see their mother’s grave, and he knew Dean would make a fuss, but he didn’t care.

They needed a win: all of them.

Besides, without Lana here, the only other person to convince him would be Lily...except she wasn’t talking to him. Even with two weeks to simmer, things had festered a bit too, and so Sam had gone to Florence with the idea, and it was breakfast when she brought it up into conversation. She figured that if  _ she _ was the one to say it, then perhaps Dean would take it to heart better.

“You know, I made you waffles out of the kindness of my heart--you don’t have to scarf them down like a wild animal,” Florence laughed, shaking her head at Dean. “You’d think I haven’t kept you fed.”

Lily nodded as she made a face. “He  _ is _ a wild animal.”

“Maybe,” Florence agreed as Dean rolled his eyes. “You know, I was thinking that maybe you guys needed a jump start into things. When I’m feeling a little down after a particularly emotional hunt, I go back to the root of things.”

“What do you mean?” Dean asked her slowly, mouth full of food.

“I mean, I see Annie, or Lana and I go to a bar. Sometimes I just hang out here with Bobby,” Florence shrugged, looking up when Bobby spoke next.

“All the time you hang out with me,” Bobby pointed out, shaking his head. “Not that I mind the company.”

Florence smiled at him and then looked at Lily. “Maybe you guys should try it.”

“You mean like visiting Mom’s grave?” Sam asked, trying to make it seem like Florence’s idea had given  _ him _ the idea, but Lily knew better.

**Team Yellow Eyes  
** Lana had thought she had gotten her father to  _ trust her _ by now, but clearly that wasn’t the case. For the last two weeks, she had buckled down, she had tried not to be obstinate, and she had gotten a better hang of things. Plus, she hadn’t let anyone but Florence know about her phone, and had proven she could be trusted when no one came trying to burn his hideouts down. He just kept distancing her, and she knew that that meant something.

“I think you’re ready, Princess,” Azazel said that morning, giving her a smile. “You just need to trust yourself. Practice on your own. When you’re strong enough to kill a demon, you’ll know. Something will click for you, but the real test?”

She raised her eyebrows. “What exactly do you mean,  _ real _ test? I thought that this whole thing was the test. I thought that you were teaching me until I  _ was _ strong enough.”

“So you can catch me off guard? No,” Azazel laughed, shaking his head. “No. The real test is using your powers when you need to, and not letting the looks from others change your mind. If you need more of a push, I’ll be back.”

“Okay...but what about the army? What about the Colt?” Lana asked, feeling herself growing a little desperate with each word. “I mean...what about that?”

Azazel smiled, the gun appearing in his hand. “This, Princess...is not for you. Maybe. Not yet.”

Lana wanted to do anything--everything--to get that gun out of her father’s manipulative little fingers, but he vanished into thin air when she took the step toward him, that smirking face, the last she saw. He wasn’t close, he wasn't here, and her whole plan had failed. She hadn’t gotten the gun back, she hadn’t gotten to kill him, and now what? She just went home because for now he was done with her?

Pulling her phone out of her pocket, Lana took a deep breath and made a call. “Mom?”

**In the Impala  
** Even though Dean was not at all on board with this idea, he had agreed to the plan. He thought the idea of going back to the beginning to be silly, but Lily and Sam had out voted him, and so he was pouting even though he was driving. All Dean wanted to do was get back into a hunt so that he could prove himself again. That was what Lily and him had been doing with Sam, and would be doing with Lana when she got back: no one could prove they were ready until they actually  _ proved  _ it.

“It’s about her memory, Dean,” Sam told his brother with a shrug. “It’s about the start for us. This is where it began. We would have had pretty normal lives if Mom had never died. Dad never would have shoved us into the life--I would have been less broken when I met Lily. Hell, we’d have been down the street from Lana our whole lives. Though, now that I think about it, you probably never would have dated.”

Dean shot Sam a look. “Excuse me, we would so.”

“Nope,” Sam laughed, shaking his head.

“How do you figure?” Lily asked, eyes on Sam.

For some reason she was expecting something she didn’t want to hear come from Sam, and she didn’t know why she was. Instead, she got an answer that she couldn’t even argue with.

“Because she and I would have been friends and then she would have been his little freak brother’s friend and he never would have gone for her. I dunno, maybe come Prom he’d see her all dolled up and be reminded she wasn’t a kid anymore, but without hunting? You would have gone off to college with the money Mom and Dad had set aside for us. Maybe she would have actually married Lance,” Sam mused, thinking it over.

“I don’t like your ‘maybe’ land,” Dean responded, shaking his head. “I’ve always thought Lana was cute.”

Sam looked at him. “I’m sorry, what?”

“First time she and I met, she was 16--definitely didn’t look it--and Dad and I were on this hunt for a werewolf,” Dean admitted, chewing on his lip before he spoke again. “Florence looked the same as ever, but you wouldn’t have remembered. Dad split when things with Mom happened, but she was around a bit before Mom died. I never met Annie, and I didn’t meet Lana until later, but Dad and Florence were reminiscing because it had been awhile, and you were off visiting some family or other you and Dad had been arguing about and Dad said we’d get you when it was done.”

“Wait...that was when I first started looking into Stanford…” Sam remembered, glancing at his brother. “I’m sorry, why didn’t you mention it before?”

Dean shrugged his shoulders. “I was embarrassed. We were hustling a guy, bored while Dad and Florence looked into the clues, and I of course, thought I was incredibly charming a decade ago, okay? Got busted for my fake ID, and we were walking back to the motel and it clicked for me, that yikes, this girl is as old as my brother, and is she really arguing with me about how to kill a werewolf the proper way?”

“Oh, but now you don’t mind, she's 4 years younger than you?” Sam laughed, shaking his head.

“Have you seen her? Decade later and she’s got legs that go on for days,” Dean whistled, laughing when Lily punched him in the shoulder playfully. “I’m just saying, in a world where hunting wasn’t a thing, she’d still be bossy, she’d still be cute, and she would most definitely still have legs that go on for days, so we’d be fine.”

It was the admission that made Lily smile a little, because even though she was mad at him, even in this alternate universe, their family would be together. They’d never get dragged into any of this, she and Sam could get married and start a family, and Lana and Dean wouldn’t have as much to worry about...right? But what about Lana? Her entire existence was supernatural, so…?

“Wouldn’t Lana still be a hunter?” Lily asked gently. “I mean...you don’t get her unless a demon’s involved.”

Dean gave a nod. “You know, Munchkin’s right.”

He left it at that, however, and they rode in silence to the cemetery. Lily held Sam’s hand as they approached a headstone that said: ‘MARY WINCHESTER, 1954-1983, In Loving Memory’. Sam had brought flowers, and Lily smiled as he had a moment, Dean avoiding the headstone and looking at a different gravestone, that had dead flowers and grass around it. Not just around it either, but in a perfect circle, and that was very odd.

“I thought you were here to visit your mother, not play with dead grass,” Lana spoke up, smiling when all three of the people she loved most looked up at her.

“You see her too, right?” Lily asked the boys, noting how they were looking at Lana too.

Sam nodded slowly. “Someone pinch me. Ow! Not you!” he told his brother, rubbing his arm.

“It’s not a dream,” Lana laughed, shaking her head. “You wouldn’t all be having the same dream.”

That was all Lily needed before she was rushing to her, both young women throwing their arms around each other for a much needed hug. Dean was still trying to make sense of the moment, noting Sam starting toward her too. He tried to beat him there, but Sam was already wrapping his arms around  _ both _ of his girls, Lana making a joke about how Dean must have driven like a grandpa for her and Florence to have made such good time.

“Where  _ is _ Florence?” Lily asked suddenly.

Lana shook her head. “Just dropped me off. Mary’s gravestone is hard for her.”

The three were still reeling. No heads up, no warning — and Lana appears to them in a graveyard. Because of course she would. They all had so many questions about where she’d been, where Azazel was now, and if she was really, truly back. 

“Understandable,” Sam managed, to Lana’s explanation of Florence’s smooth exit, “She’s not the only one,” he glanced at Dean. Lana put her hands on her hips, “Because someone would rather look at landscaping...” she broached. 

“Hey — you don’t think it’s weird this entire graveyard is green as a leprechaun’s jollies but that one grave is totally dead?” Dean responded defensively, “Look for yourselves.” 

Despite their elation of Lana’s return and their desire for a reunion, Dean grabbed their attentions and they marched across the cemetery together to look at what he was so insistent about. The dead grass was in a perfect circle. The flowers at her grave were dead which seemed strange. She hadn’t died that long ago according to her headstone. Why would her grave be in such distinct disrepair? 

“Weird, right?” Dean was looking for validation but, of course, he was looking directly at Lana. 

Lana nodded, “Too small to be a crop circle,” she offered. Dean took the space next to her, his shoulder brushing his. Things between them — well they were complicated, messy, dramatic but that didn’t mean they didn’t need to be near each other. 

And that didn’t mean Dean wasn’t eager to get her alone. 

“I mean, we’re here,” Sam shrugged, “Wouldn’t hurt to check it out. I mean, hey, the gang’s all here.” He gave a smile, looking back at Lana. 

“Yeah, now you can get some real work done,” Lana nudged Dean with her shoulder, “Not sure how you got anything done since I left...”

“It’s been really hard,” Lily told her friend which made them both smile. 

“My poor Lily,” Lana reached out and ran her hand over Lily’s shoulder. The feeling was so different from two weeks ago — the way her touch felt in her head versus here — well, there was no comparison. 

Sam laughed and shook his head, “Oh come on...we fed her,” he teased, pulling Lily into him.  
  
She laughed, “Florence fed me!” She exclaimed, half-fighting against the giant (not that she intended to go anywhere). 

Dean didn’t comment — he and Lily were still on the outs. Lana could sense it but she knew now was not the time to discuss it — she would wait until she had Dean alone. Despite her Mom’s great care, she could see the healing wound near the hem of Lily’s collar, the way the stitches marked her skin.... it made her stomach churn.

“Well,” she drew herself out of her own stream of consciousness, “I think we get ourselves a room and do a little research on this girl — see if you're right or if you’re just really into botany,” Lana teased. 

“Separate rooms!” Dean announced, digging into his pocket for the keys. 

“Like — eight rooms apart please!” Lily exclaimed, “I really don’t need to hear anything that’s about to happen.” 

Sam nodded in agreement. However, he had a feeling there was a lot Dean and Lana had to hash out — and not just in the fun way. So he let the moment pass as Dean urged them back to the Impala.

It was seamless, the way Lana eased herself into the passenger seat and Sam took his place in the backseat with Lily. It was as if some part of the world had righted itself and released a burden from each of their shoulders when the last door to the Impala closed. They still had a lot of shit to work through (a lot) but none of them wanted to ruin this moment — the peace they could keep until Lana had to tell them about what she had gone through, until they had to return to the reality of their journey to kill Azazel once and for all. But — they had tonight and they wouldn’t let it go. 

Lily slipped her head in between Lana and Dean, “I think we should do breakfast for dinner.” She said, knowing one of the first things they needed to do reunited was eat. Dean gave a glance, not wanting to delay his alone time with Lana any further. However, when Lana clapped her hands together in agreement — there was no way he was going to tell his girl ‘no’. 

Honestly, Lily felt a sense of calm that she rarely got to experience. It wasn’t that any one person in that car was calm or at ease... but the simple joy of being reunited strung a thread between them laced with happiness and relief. It was thin, it was delicate, but it was there and Lily clung to it as tightly as she could. 

Dean found them a roadside motel and when he pulled into the parking lot — he knew he still had to figure out food, “Now how am I supposed to find breakfast at this hour?”

“Uh — iHop,” both Lily and Lana replied in unison. Dean gave Lana a look but she knew she had won. 

“Thank-you,” she leaned in and gave him a kiss — it lasted longer than it usually might have but it had been too long, far too long. When she finally pulled away she started up, “There’s more in it where that came from if you hurry.”

“Alright everyone out of the car! Move it, Sammy! Shake a leg!” Dean called. The trio got out of the Impala and Sam made quick work of getting their bags before Dean was pulling out of the parking lot — leaving them to get the rooms. 

**Dean and Lana’s Room - Later  
** Empty containers of pancakes, waffles, and omelets, hash browns and empty canisters of syrup littered the room. Lily sat on the floor as Lana braided her hair from behind. Dean sat on the bed, his leg pressed to Lana’s hip. Now that the food was gone he was eager for Sam and Lily to be gone too. 

Sam was at the table, starting preliminary research on the girl at the grave, “College student,” Sam informed them when he caught a rare lull in Lily and Lana’s conversation, “Kinda tragic, actually,” he said, glancing at the room. Was now the time to go into a co-ed’s tragic death? Probably not. So he read the room and closed his laptop, “But maybe we can talk about it bright and early. With coffee, of course,” he motioned out to Lana. 

“I can get behind that,” Lana replied, putting the last elastic band in Lily’s hair, “Alright, you’re perfect. Well, I mean more perfect,” she clapped Lily on the shoulders to tell her she was done with her hair.

“Okay, okay. I can read the room,” Lily pushed herself off of the floor and turned to look at Lana with a smile, “Sam and I will go back to our room before Dean implodes,” she said with barely a glance in Dean’s direction — the comment was entirely for Lana’s benefit. 

Lily pulled Lana into one last hug, “I’m so glad you’re back,” she muttered in the girl's ear. Lana hugged her with equal intensity but once they were able to separate, Sam led Lily from the room and Dean and Lana were left alone.

“Finally,” Dean exclaimed as if he’d been dying of thirst and someone finally gave him water, “I’ve never seen Munchkin eat pancakes slower.”

Lana laughed and shrugged her shoulders. “Because she  _ missed _ me.”

“I missed you more,” Dean responded before his lips were on hers, muffling the laugh that came out of her. He was always the competitive one, and he groaned when she pushed on his chest a little when he laid her back. “What?”

His hand ran down to her hip, his thumb running along her shirt as his eyes found hers. This was so much better than a dream world, and he knew she wanted to talk, but he also wanted to spend as much time as possible getting reacquainted with his girl and she was trying to  _ talk _ .

“Lily’s wound was  _ bad _ , Dean,” Lana told him gently, fingers in his hair as he nodded.

It hadn’t fully ruined the moment, but it meant that they were going to start with hashing things out  _ before _ they got to have any fun. He almost wanted to remind her that she had promised him sex when she got back, but this was an important conversation to have and even  _ he _ couldn’t change the subject.

“I know,” Dean replied, hanging his head for a moment before they made eye contact again. “I’m surprised Sam didn’t jump down my throat about her bleeding out or something. I didn’t think Gordon would do that.”

Lana shook her head. “I know you wouldn’t have  _ purposefully _ gotten her hurt, but once again, it just gives Sam more ammunition. Plus, why didn’t you trust her?”

“I don’t know,” Dean admitted, his head dropping again, only this time he rested his forehead against Lana’s chest. “I honestly can’t tell you what I was thinking. I’ve been going over it for weeks and I have no excuse. I almost got her killed. If Lenore hadn’t been  _ exactly _ what she said she was, something really bad could have happened.”

“You have to make it up to her,” Lana told him sternly. “I’m serious, Dean. I have enough to do to make things up to both of you. I can’t  _ also _ kick your ass every time you’re dumb. I’ll burn out.”

Dean lifted his head to give her a look at that. “You calling me dumb?”

“No, I’m saying you have a track record of doing really dumb things,” she replied, shaking her head. “She’s going to scar, and we are all, always going to be reminded. She’s our munchkin. If you make me take you out with my mama bear powers, I will.”

“Take me out, huh? Kind of goes completely against your whole deal,” Dean pointed out, which made them both sigh. “Then you just show up and I’m glad--I’ve wanted you home since you left--but that’s just it. You left.”

He was right. Her leaving had felt like a lot of broken promises to everyone just because it left them in a place where she couldn’t protect them. She wasn’t with them, they were without her, and it had thrown everything out of whack. At the same time, everyone had had time enough to remember that without it, they could have lost Dean for good. So it had sucked, and she was going to have to make up for a  _ lot _ , but Dean was alive.

“I did,” Lana admitted with a nod. “I didn’t want to be away from any of you, but I couldn’t let you die. You  _ know _ that. It would have broken me.”

Dean nodded, leaning in to kiss her tenderly. “I do appreciate that you didn’t have to  _ die _ to save me.”

“You think I’m gonna let my father ultimately  _ beat _ me? Not a chance in Hell,” Lana told him, smiling when he kissed her again, longer this time. “Wait, wait…”

“Really?” Dean groaned, making eye contact with her. “Weeks, Lanni... _ weeks _ .”

Lana smirked and pushed on him so she could straddle him, looking down at him when his hands rested on her thighs. It was obvious she was going to give him just what she promised, but not without the teasing. It wasn’t quite kicking his ass, but it was definitely driving him nuts in both ways. She could kick his ass soon.

“Yes, but you weren’t on your best behavior,” she told him, giving him a look and then gesturing at his pillow, catching him off guard when she pinned his hands above his head with a thought. “So I’m afraid that means some form of punishment has to commence.”

“Okay...very not fair,” Dean managed, but he was turned on more than he wanted to admit. “I don’t think you’re using your powers for good...”

Lana winked at him. “Who says?”


	33. Zombie Barbie

**Sam and Lily’s Room  
** It dawned on Sam that he hadn’t really had as much alone time with Lily either as he would have liked, but he also knew that the dynamics of his and Lily’s relationship was a little different than Dean and Lana’s. He had been so worried about her, and she’d been healing, and he still got to sleep next to her every night, but he did miss her. Sam was a man after all. Even if he liked to lord it over his brother that he was a gentleman and that relationships were more than carnal urges...he still got carnal urges too.

“It’s good to see her home,” Sam said with a smile as he shrugged his jacket off. “I have never seen Dean so excited to have a separate room before.”

Lily laughed and nodded. “Well, he’s also sitting on over a month of only a couple of dream walks. You’ve seen him. He might not be my favorite person at the moment, but I get it.”

Plus, in the grand scheme of things, it meant that he and Lily had some more time apart and she needed the breathing space. She wasn’t sure how  _ this _ mending was going to go, but there really was a lot of mending that needed to happen between all of them. This hunt was either going to be good for that, or it was going to throw everything into chaos again. Lily wanted to believe that with the four of them finally together, they would be able to truly move forward in a positive way.

“Come here,” Sam said gently, reaching for her.

Lily smiled a little and nodded, slipping her arms around him and burying her face in his chest. Breathing in his scent, she felt herself calm a little, nodding more as his fingertips ran up and down her back in a comforting motion. Leave it to Sam, to know exactly what she needed in a moment. Even when he had been on thin ice, he’d always at least been there, and she couldn’t imagine having to actually be without him.

Now, the four were going to have to get a  _ new _ dynamic going, because this meant actually talking things out again. Coming up with a plan of attack, researching, splitting up into pairs, and Lily glanced up at Sam as those thoughts settled in with her.

“We can’t let them pair up together--they won’t get anything done,” Lily told him seriously.

Sam chuckled though, leaning down to kiss her. “I’ll take my brother and you can have Lana.”

“I mean, it wasn’t going to be another way,” she responded with a laugh, letting out a little squeal when Sam picked her up.

She resituated so her arms went around his neck, and he set her on their bed, pressing gentle kisses to her jaw and then to her neck. He continued, each kiss becoming more and more gentle as he kissed around the evidence of Gordon’s attack. It was hard sometimes to remember that Lily was in this world with him, but he continued to press feather light kisses to her skin.

“I love you,” he told her, smiling when she did.

“I love you too,” she whispered back.

**Dean and Lana’s Room - Later Still  
** Dean was on his back with his eyes closed, a little smile on his face as Lana ran her fingers along his chest. He was exhausted, he’d admit it, but it was nice to have his girl back, naked in his bed. More than just the sex--he had needed these moments of skin on skin contact. It calmed him down in a way that few things did, and he pouted a little when her fingers slowed.

“You falling asleep on me already?” Dean asked her.

Lana laughed and shook her head. “Not that you’re not  _ exhausting _ , but I’m wired.”

“I’m not sleeping until  _ you _ do,” Dean murmured, and Lana glanced at him.

The way that he had said it, kind of broke her heart, and she gave his body a squeeze before she pressed kisses to his jaw. He was worried that he was going to wake up and she wasn’t going to be in bed with him again and she couldn’t fault him for that. She had taken off after spending time with him, and hadn’t even been able to completely nurse him back to health.

“Baby…” Lana whispered, frowning when he just shook his head, keeping his eyes closed. “I’m not going anywhere without you again. I promise. I know I have to work for my word to mean more, but I wouldn’t have left in the first place. The only reason I had to, was to keep you alive. Do you think I liked not sleeping next to you? Because I didn’t. It  _ killed _ me.”

Dean nodded, this time looking at her. “It also kills me that you’d do it again.”

“I know,” she said gently, shaking her head. “I just don’t want you to be afraid to go to sleep. How about this? I won’t jog in the morning, and when you wake up, I’ll be right here. Just don’t sleep until noon, okay? I need coffee to be in a mood that doesn’t make you wanna strangle me.”

“That is true, you’re more tolerable caffeinated,” Dean chuckled, laughing more when she poked him. “You are!” He enjoyed sharing the laugh, and ran his fingers through her hair as she snuggled up against him. “Hey...you know what Sammy said today?”

Lana shook her head. “What did he say?”

“He said that if we’d had normal lives, you and I wouldn’t be together,” Dean mused, wanting to know what she thought about that.

“I mean, I’d be your little brother’s friend. There is no denying that Sam and I would have been study buddies at some point. I got straight A’s, he got good grades when he got a chance to go to school. You would have  _ hated _ the idea of dating your little brother’s friend.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “I would have purposefully seduced you in front of your prom date.”

“Oh my God, you would not,” Lana told him, laughing even more. “Lance would have punched you in the throat.”

“Don’t even remind me that you went with him,” Dean said, shaking his head. “I would doubly do it then.”

Lana laughed and hoisted herself up to kiss him before she wiggled her eyebrows. “How about you doubly do me instead and we can call it even?”

“Oh, I like that,” Dean responded with a grin, pressing his lips to hers and turning them over.

**Sam and Lily’s Room  
** Sam had only gotten out of bed to brush his teeth, a lot of things running through his head. The more he thought about this potential hunt, the more he hoped that it  _ wasn’t _ a hunt. He wanted Dean to face the headstone, and he wanted to have more time to heal before throwing Lily back into something.

When he returned to bed Lily was running her finger gently along her stitches which made him crease his brow. She caught his look and wanted to stop his worry from growing, “You know,” her voice was quiet, laced with sleep and pleasure and content which was rare, “It’s kind of like an initiation,” she said. 

He got back into bed and leaned over her so he could look into her eyes to better understand “What are you talking about?” 

“Well you and Dean and Lana all have scars -- I mean I’ve seen them.” Lily gave a smirk, her hand reaching up to brush across a scar on Sam’s side from a hunt long ago, “Now I have one. I mean, I have a really tiny one from a diving board when I was like 8 but I don’t think that counts.” 

“How did you get one from a diving board?” He asked, unable to help but laughing at the thought. He and Dean and Lana did have their fair share of little reminders of their long history in hunting -- but a diving board? It was so  _ normal _ .

He loved it.

“I jumped a few too many times and slipped,” Lily said, which made Sam laugh again. “What?! It was bouncy! “ 

He pulled her into him and began kissing and nuzzling her neck with the intention to tickle her, “That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Stop! Stop!” she laughed as it tickled, pushing at him the best she could. She didn’t actually want him to ‘stop’ but being tickled was torture no matter how much you loved the person doing it. 

After a teasing lick to her neck he let up and wondered how he could ever get through this life without her. It was the constant war within himself: wanting her safe in a normal life -- and not being able to imagine going forward for one second without her. 

“Ew!” she teased, wiping her hand at the saliva on her neck.

“That’s not what you said a little while ago,” he told her with raised, suggestive brows.

Lily laughed and pressed her forehead against his in response after a small kiss to the tip of his nose. When was the last time she laughed? Like really  _ laughed _ ? “I missed you. So much more than I can say.” 

“You have no idea,” Sam murmured. He folded her against his body and positioned himself against the bed, happy to let this moment drift into eternity. No hunts. No demon baby prophecies or deals with the devil -- just him, Lily, and a little bit of bliss. 

**The Next Morning  
** Harsh reality. 

No matter how much they didn’t want to -- each couple had to pry themselves out of bed, get dressed, and prepare to face another potential hunt. They still had responsibilities and no motel room could save them from their duties. 

A knock sounded at Sam and Lily’s door which was followed by Lana’s voice, “It’s me!” 

Lily bounded to the door as Sam threw on his jeans and she threw it open. There had been an anxiety within Lily that they would all wake up and it would have been a dream. Lana would be gone again and everything would spiral back into darkness. But nope! Lana was at her door, holding cups of good coffee to boot. 

“Bless you,” Lily accepted her cup as Lana entered their room. 

“No broken furniture? Sam, I am disappointed in you,” Lana teased. However, when she stole a glance as he searched for a tshirt she couldn’t help but add, “Well...not totally.” she threw a wink to Lily who gave her a ‘ _ I know right?!’  _ look. 

“Hey, she’s injured alright?” Sam threw back with a laugh, “So what’s the motel going to charge us for your room?” Sam teased her, yanking a wrinkled shirt from his duffle. 

“Woah, Sammy,” Dean strode into the room but put his hand out in front of his eyes as Sam managed to throw his shirt on, “TMI.” 

Sam gratefully accepted his coffee from Lana with a laugh and a shake of his head, “Oh come off it, Dean. I know you’re only dressed at all because Lana wanted coffee.” 

Dean wouldn’t argue so he just gave his brother a look, “Yeah, alright, so…” he took a sip of his own coffee (black, nothing like some chick would order as he liked to remind everyone), “What do we got on this dead co-ed?” 

“Wow, nice,” Lily threw at him and his lack of bedside manner. It was supposed to be the usual banter between them but Dean felt too nervous to respond with a quip so he started up again, “--er, what’s her name?” 

“Angela Mason,” Sam started, opening his laptop to boot it up, “Car accident. Her funeral was two weeks ago.” 

“Two weeks? That’s not exactly a long enough time for some groundskeeper to enact that much neglect…” Dean offered, the only one 100% convinced at this point that it was a hunt. Everyone else still teetered on edge -- and honestly hoped it wasn’t at all. 

“No,” Sam replied in agreement on that front, “But there’s no way to know what killed the grass and those flowers. Could have been an accidental overdose of weed killer or ---”

“In a perfect circle?” Dean replied quickly and cut him off. Unable to rebut that point, Sam went back to his computer and the information he had gathered. 

“Okay, so what exactly do we have right now? She’s been dead for like three weeks, buried for two, and in that time her grave and only her grave has some weird  _ Signs _ looking decayed. Am I up to speed.” 

“Pretty much,” Sam told her honestly. 

“Yeah, well that’s why we’re going to investigate. This is a hunt -- it’s what we do,” Dean defended his choice to make this a hunt, “Figure we could split up -- talk to her friends and family. See if anything out of the ordinary happened before her death.” 

“Her obit said she was survived by her father. Didn’t mention a mother or any other family so it’s likely he’ll know something. And from the records and her social media I think she had a roommate.” Sam offered, closing his laptop again, “You and I should visit her father…” Sam started in Dean’s direction.

“Hey, woah--” Dean started with a glance at Lana. 

Lana knew his fears but she smiled, “It’s my first real day back -- do you think I’m going to let you interview some cute co-ed?” she asked, reaching up to touch his face gently, “Not a chance.” she leaned in and gave him a kiss. 

"Not fair,” Dean told her simply. 

“Besides, Lana and I can pose as some sorority members or something--” Lily started, knowing they’d be able to set any sort of college roommate at ease much quicker than the boys. It was strange -- the moment passed and Dean didn’t make a short joke. She’d expected some quip about how there was no way she’d pass as even a college student but -- nothing. Lily wondered if anything would ever be the same between them and it broke her heart. 

“Alright!” Lana started, “You boys drop us at her house and get out to see her Dad.” A quick read of the room (and Lily the Sensitive especially), Lana drew the attention back to the hunt. The four gathered themselves and piled into the Impala to begin recon. 

“Sam’s taking point on this though, right?” Lana asked, reading over the obit Sam passed to her in the front seat. 

“Hey! Why? I’m the one who found this thing -- why should Sammy get the lead?” Dean asked.

Lana gave him a look, “Because he’s a grieving father and your bedside manner...well it needs work, babe.”

“It isn’t that bad!” Dean protested, but when Lana’s hand came up and gently massaged the back of his neck, he calmed himself. “Fine...Sam can take point.”

“Good, and besides, Lily is the clairvoyant one, right? She’ll be able to sense if the roommate had good intentions or not and the whole nine yards,” Lana pointed out, shrugging her shoulders. “Plus, there are other ways to get information out of someone already dead…”

**School Building  
** Sam and Dean headed to see Dr. Mason after dropping the girls off, Dean remembering what Lana had said. They had to find a way for the four of them to work together again and the best way to do that was to find a way to all work together like a seamlessly working machine. Plus, until they knew what was really going on, Dean didn’t need to get all gung ho about  _ another _ case, right after what had happened to Lily.

“Dr. Mason?” Dean asked the older gentleman.

“Yes?” He answered.

Sam smiled at him. “I’m Sam and this is Dean. We were friends of Angela’s and we...we wanted to offer our condolences.”

“Come in,” the man nodded, smiling sadly.

Dean set right into looking at an old looking book, and Sam looked around at the pictures, starting to talk about Angela while Dean threw out a question about the book. It was ancient Greek, which was definitely something to look into, and as they spoke more to him, they learned that the car crash she had been in was only a mile from home.

“It’s gotta be hard losing someone like that--all of a sudden,” Sam began, nodding when Dr. Mason did, but Dean butted in and he wouldn’t be him if he didn’t.

“Almost like you can still sense their presence. Ever feel anything like that?” Dean asked him.

Sam cut right in to say that was normal, and Dean took the hint for once to shut his mouth. He was getting a little too direct about it, and Sam felt bad for the guy. He couldn’t even imagine what he’d do if he lost Lily, and honestly, the car crash they had all been in kind of felt like a situation where they would have lost  _ Dean _ like that. So far though, other than the Ancient Greek book, it didn’t feel like there was anything here.

**Angela’s House  
** Lana knew that Dean thought that there was something going on here, and she didn’t want to discount his feelings. Yes, there was a perfect circle of death around the young girl’s grave, but she’d died so recently that if she  _ was _ a spirit, salting and burning her would not at all be good. It also would be a different kind of messy and Lana didn’t want to subject Lily to it.

“Okay, so her name is Lindsey,” Lily reminded her. “We can just say we’re friends.”

Nodding, Lana agreed and knocked on the door. “Hi…”

Lindsey looked like she had been crying her eyes out, but she greeted them and eventually let them inside to talk to them. There were tissues all over the place and an empty ice cream container, and Lily felt grief coming off of the poor girl in  _ waves _ . She also felt  _ guilt _ , which was something that she knew that she couldn’t just ignore, even if that was also a sign of grief. In their line of work--and from what she remembered from the Bloody Mary case--guilt could go a long way if there was a secret involved.

“We just wanted to tell you how sorry we were,” Lana explained, reaching out to rest her hand on the young woman’s shoulder as she cried. “What happened was so terrible.”

Lindsey nodded and blew her nose, still crying. “It was awful.”

“Especially after…” Lily prompted, and just then it felt like alarm bells going off as Lindsey looked shocked.

“ _ She told you _ ?!” Lindsey asked them.

Lana was a little surprised but didn’t let it show. “Hey...it’s okay.”

“No, no it’s not,” Lindsey began to sob. “You don’t do that to your best friend. And Matt...Matt was so upset he killed himself last night. Slit his own throat: who does that?! We didn’t...we didn’t…”

She started to cry some more, and Lily pursed her lips together, nodding as Lana excused herself to use the bathroom. She wasn’t really going to use the bathroom, but she was letting Lily get more information while she searched Angela’s room, and eventually they met back up outside and Lana pulled Angela’s diary out of her jacket and shook her head.

“Cheating with your best friend’s boyfriend,” Lana shook her head. “I mean that’s awful.”

“Yeah,” Lily responded with a nod. “No wonder she felt so guilty. But, uh...Matt dying last night? After we know that cheating happened? And Lindsey said that he said he’d been seeing her before he died so...”

Lana nodded at her. “Yeah, it is  _ way _ too suspect…I just don’t want to salt and burn a freshly dead girl.”

**Back at the Motel  
** Lana and Lily stopped to check Matt's apartment and then for snacks and more coffee before they met back up with the boys, and honestly, they felt like this was a case. Sam hadn't wanted Dean to be right, just avoiding his problems, but of course they had found a hunt when they weren't looking for one.

"I swiped her diary and guess what?" Lana announced as they came through the door. "Roommate slept with the deceased's boyfriend and she caught them before the car accident."

Dean snapped his fingers. "I am so attracted to you right now."

"Because I swiped a diary?" Lana laughed, shaking her head and sitting on Dean’s lap.

"Because you proved me right," Dean replied, kissing her softly and then taking the diary from her. "Anything else?"

Lily nodded and sat on Sam. "Well, Matt saw Angela before he slit his own throat last night."

"Which, is definitely not normal," Sam agreed, heaving a sigh. "Alright, so we have a case, but it seems very open and shut, burn the remains but…"

They all nodded instead of him finishing the sentence because none of them wanted to do this. Bones was one thing, but not a whole freshly dead body. That was just a whole new level of disturbing and a weird silence descended on them all for a moment.

"Oh!" Lana exclaimed suddenly. "We checked Matt's place too and there was a pile of dead plants there too."

Lily nodded slowly. "A dead goldfish too. Is that a normal spirit thing?" She wanted it to be anything but salting and burning right now. "I dunno, it just feels different than the poltergeist."

Dean chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, uh...so did you read this thing?"

"I skimmed it," Lana told him with a shrug. "We came back because we think we should find Neil."

"Yeah, we should--got unrequited ducky love all over it," Dean laughed before he whistled. "Real shoulder to cry on, this dude."

Lana smiled at him. "So you, if I'd stayed with Lance in this alternate universe of no hunting?"

"You will be off of my lap in a minute, missy," Dean threatened, but he smiled when she pressed a kiss to his neck. "You know...maybe Lanni and I should head to our room and brainstorm a plan…"

Lily gave him a look. "That isn't what you would be 'brainstorming'."

“Not even a little subtle, dude,” Sam added with an amused shake of his head. 

Dean’s lips turned down in displeasure that Lily and Sam so  _ meanly _ wanted to keep him from getting laid for the 5th time in less than 12 hours. 

Lana patted Dean’s chest with a smile, “Not during the work day babe, sorry,” She kissed his cheek. 

“Since when is that a rule?” Dean replied.

“Since we have a possible dead girl roaming around killing ex-boyfriends,” Sam replied incredulously, “On a case  _ you _ got us on!” 

“Yeah — well,” Dean didn’t have a good reply so he ‘harrumphed’ and let it go, “So who are we looking at for this thing?” 

“We have to talk to Neil, I mean, he sounds like he would know things about her that her roommate didn’t know,” Lana offered. 

"Can’t rule out the father. Maybe Lily will know better if she can take a pass at him but it wouldn’t be the first time a grieving loved one brought someone back,” Sam started, realizing how close to home that statement was so he quickly pushed onward not wanting it to settle, “I mean, I’m pretty sure she was the only family Dr. Mason had left.” 

“Sounds to me like a split up — me and Lana on Neil — you and Munchkin on Daddio,” Dean smiled, knowing he had a solid point. 

Sam wavered, he looked at Lana and Lana gave him a knowing smile, “It’ll be fine. I’ll keep him in check, I promise.” 

“Good." Sam told her. "Sooner we figure out what’s going on, the less chance this spirit or whatever kills anyone else... and then we can get out of town, maybe have some time to welcome you back properly.”

“Don’t worry, Sammy,” Dean patted Lana’s legs and the pair stood up, ready to continue the case, “I took care of that,” he gave his brother a wink. 

“Ew,” Sam replied simply. He was happy for his brother — and for Lana but something about hearing about it from his brother always gave him the heebie-jeebies. Dean clapped him on the shoulder with a smirk. 

“We’ll drop you at Dr. Mason’s on the way to track Neil down,” Lana said, following Dean to the Impala.

“What kind of spirit can cut someone’s throat?” Lily asked.

“We don’t know for sure if it was the spirit,” Sam replied, “Some spirits can make people do things they don’t want to do... or he really could have been that distraught — no way to know now unless Neil has better info.” 

“Been a while since we’ve had a good ol’ salt and burn.” Dean said, weirdly cheerful about the state of things. He, of course, wasn’t thinking about the fresh corpse six feet under by the simplicity and nostalgia of a ‘normal’ case.

“Yeah, fine by me. You always make me do most of the digging,” Sam replied grumpily as he settled next to Lily in the backseat. 

“I do not,” Dean replied, although it was basically a bold faced lie. Dean and gotten his hands dirty his fair share but as the older brother it was his duty to make his little brother do the grunt work — especially when it came to digging up graves. 

“Oh please,” Sam scoffed a laugh. “Remember Houston?” 

Lana and Lily looked to Dean — a smile spread across his lips at the memory before a soft laugh emitted from between his lips, “Oh yeah.”

“Case and point,” Sam finished, draping his arm over Lily’s shoulders. 

“I’m not digging,” Lily said simply, “No way. I’ll hold the flashlight or something.” She was all for getting her hands dirty as a hunter but digging up graves? That was something she could leave to the tall folks. 

“Yeah, and I’ll keep look out,” Lana added with a smirk. 

“Typical,” Dean threw her a smirk which lead to a smack on the arm, “Besides, we let Munchkin dig she’d never be able to climb out.” He couldn’t help himself — he was still unable to meet Lily’s eye in the mirror but the short joke was too good to pass up. 

“Which is why you and Sam will do a great job — if that’s what we have to do. But God, I hope not,” Lana finished, blowing a strand of hair from her face. 

It wasn’t much longer until Dean dropped Sam and Lily at Angela’s father’s house. Lily paused on the walk to address Sam, “So what was your story? Isn’t it kind of weird you showing up again? Should we have brought flowers? We probably should’ve brought flowers...” 

Sam laughed, “We said we were friends of Angela’s — I don’t know, maybe you’re a friend from school and you want to do a piece on her for the school paper... you knew I’d already spoken to him...”

“You’ve had to do this one too many times, huh?” She asked as he so easily came up with a cover story. Lily took his hand and interlaced their fingers as they stepped up to the door and rang the doorbell: ding dong. 

**The Impala  
** Lana and Dean parked outside of Neil’s last known address. 

“You think Neil and Angela ever hooked up?” Dean asked, waggling his brows. 

“No way. I mean, pretty sure she would’ve told her diary but usually dudes _that_ willing to be a shoulder to cry on aren’t getting any.” 

“Hey — you can cry on my shoulder,” Dean responded as if he were insulted but her insinuation.

“Without you touching my ass first?” Lana replied with both of her brows raised high. 

Dean took a beat before he spoke again. “Yeah, so...sounds like Neil was the last one to see her alive before the accident...” he reminded, “But she had been on the phone with Matt during... that’s a lot of potential unfinished business, even with Matt dead."

That just meant they were probably on the right track, but they wouldn't know until they actually got out of the car and went up the walk. Dean reached over and rested his hand on Lana’s thigh, giving it a squeeze. She knew what he wanted and she knew they didn't have time, but she still kind of wanted to do it. At the same time, they were on a  _ case _ right now, and Lana laughed when Dean unbundled as they parked and then told her to wait.

"Do you remember what happened last time that we had sex in the middle of a case?" Lana asked, but it didn't stop her from leaning across to kiss him back when their lips met. "We can’t…"

Dean chuckled and shrugged. "We are with each other this time. No one here to get kidnapped."

"Just parked in front of the dead girl's pining friend's house?" Lana asked, but she had already crawled onto his lap. "This is not at all professional…"

Didn't stop her from making out with him, trying to stay situated enough that she wasn't going to honk the horn. They really didn't need to be any kind of close like this anymore today, but it was still happening. Broad daylight, Lana on his lap, making out instead of working, and just as Dean’s hand started to slide up the back of her shirt, someone rapped their knuckles on the window.

It surprised them both enough that they jumped, Dean accidentally biting Lana’s lip, which made her jump backwards and hit the horn. That made Neil jump, and then Lana was getting out of the car and smoothing her clothes down, offering a rushed apology.

"People don't usually just park out front to…" Neil started, waving his hand around.

Lana blushed and ran fingers through her hair. "Yeah, sorry. The main intention was not to neck like teenagers in the front seat of the car. Um...we came to offer condolences for Angela."

"Oh," Neil told her, giving a nod. "It sucked. Thanks for the concern."

"More than that, we are grief counselors from the college," Dean tried, getting out. "Pairing us together when we've been separated for a while was just bad planning. Can we uh...can we come in?"

"Why would I need a grief counselor?" Neil asked them point blank.

Lana could feel him hesitating. "Because you knew both of the deceased students. Angela  _ and _ Matt. This is a rough time for everybody."

Neil just nodded and then reluctantly let them inside, getting them water when Dean said he was thirsty. He figured he might as well get this over with, and Lana gave him a smile. She was still feeling some secondhand embarrassment, but figured she needed to suck it up and do her job.

"Mostly, we wanted to reach out so no one else ended up like Matt," Lana tried to tell him.

Neil gave her a look. "Matt didn't kill himself because of grief. He killed himself because of guilt."

"Right...we heard about him and Lindsey," Lana said with a nod. "Straight from Lindsey herself."

"Then you know that’s why Angela was in the car that night. She had just caught them…" Neil trailed off and shook his head. "She didn't deserve that. You know what? I'm going to be okay and I gotta get ready for work…"

Lana nodded but asked if she could use the bathroom really quick. Nodding even though he was annoyed, Lana got up while Dean made small talk and she looked around a bit. Something was off, even without Lily’s powers she could sense it, and that was when she saw the dead plant.

Perhaps Neil was going to be next.

Whatever the case, she thanked Neil and then she and Dean went back out to the car. She looked at him seriously when he started to laugh, a smile on her face even though she wanted to be serious right now.

"You bit my lip, you know," she told him, shaking her head. "Look, we gotta salt and burn this body, even if it sucks. I saw a dead plant in there."

Dean sighed and sobered up a bit, both of them heading to get Sam and Lily. When Lily said she really didn't feel anything from Dr. Mason, Lana nodded and said they were just going to have to salt and burn the bones. No one wanted to do it, but they didn't have a choice.

**Cemetery - Night  
** Waiting until it was dark, the four found themselves digging up a grave. Well, the boys were digging while Lana played Lookout and Lily held the flashlight. Lana had made a comment about wanting to watch her man work, which was the  _ only _ reason that Dean was even in the grave with his brother.

"I don't wanna see this part," Lana announced when they hit the top of the coffin.

She and Lily both turned around and the boys lifted up the lid, only to not find a body. So...was she dead or wasn't she? This was absolutely ridiculous and Lana didn't want things to be this much harder. Could it never just be a simple case?

"Wait...didn't Dr. Mason have an ancient Greek book?" Sam asked Dean, nodding when he did. "I bet there are resurrection spells in there."

Lana sighed loudly. "Look, if she is a dead girl walking, then Angela is in trouble. That isn't magic you should ...play...with. The dead plant. What classes does Neil take?"

"We can hack the system," Sam said as he and Dean got out of the hole.

"Okay, because the guy really didn't care that Matt was dead," Lana explained as Lily sighed. "What?"

"I know Sam will hate it, but we might wanna split again? We need to save Lindsey, but we also need to check on Neil." Lily explained to them. "If he had a chance to bring his crush back to life, he can't control her. Maybe she did kill Matt. Maybe she'll kill Lindsey."

Lana nodded in agreement. "Necromancy is  _ not _ to be taken lightly. It takes on a mind of its own."

“Alright, I’m saying it: this sucks,” Lily sighed as the boys pushed dirt hastily back into the hole out of some sort of respect but the clock was ticking on potentially two lives and that was ultimately more important. 

“Alright — Lana and I will get back to the Ducky Love Necromancer and you two guard Lindsey until we can figure this out,” Dean brushed dirt from his hands. 

Sam dragged the back of his hand across his forehead in exhaustion — but their night was just beginning. When they all piled back into the Impala — it smelled like dirt, death, and sweat. A grim combination, to say the least. 

**Lindsey’s House  
** Sam and Lily stood on the porch. The house was dark and Sam knocked furiously on the door, “Lindsey!? Lindsey?!” he called with his booming voice. 

“Lindsey! It’s us! Sam and Lily!” She called, hoping if the girl was frightened by late night knocking on her door that her voice might coax her to come to the door, “Lindsey! Please, I know it’s late but uh- it’s really important!” 

However, the quiet house suddenly turns and they hear Lindsey screaming and a loud clatter.

“Back up!” Sam exclaimed and Lily instantly followed the order so Sam could kick in the front door; two kicks and they were inside. Sam drew his gun and Lily followed hot on his heels. They found them: two girls fighting. Angela (the chick who wasn’t Lindsey and clearly no longer a natural human color) held Lindsey by the throat and raised a pair of scissors.

“Hey!” Sam called to get her attention. Angela spun around with murder in her eyes but Sam fired off three shots that didn’t drop Angela but caused her to make a run for it — diving out the open window she likely came in through. Sam made a mad dash to follow her and Lily found her way to Lindsey, “Are you okay?”

“What is happening?” Lindsey asked in a sob. Lily found she was confused, scared as hell, but luckily unscathed, “It’s a — really long story,” Lily brought the girl to sit down on the couch and gave her a sympathetic look. It wasn’t easy — both finding out the things that go bump in the night were real and almost being killed by them in the same night. 

Sam appeared a few minutes later out of breath, “She uh — she’s fast,” Sam said with his hands on his hips. Lily’s eyes widened, “There’s only one person left in this equation she’s probably going to,” she said, quickly bringing her phone out from her pocket. 

“Lana?! Lana…I think she’s headed your way and bullets — yeah they just piss her off,” Lily said into the phone, “The grave? Okay, we’ll… we’ll get there. Just be careful, okay? She’s really fast.” 

**Neil’s House**   
“Alright, that’s it, we are out of time. Cut the crap,” when Lana hung up her phone she stopped playing around with the light steps trying to get Neil to cooperate with them, “Angela just tried to kill Lindsey and only didn’t succeed because our friends are there… and you know what? Now she’s coming here and she’s pissed. You can’t control her, Neil — but you can help us put her back where she belongs.” 

“Why would I-?” Neil started, still trying to defend himself, afraid of the trouble he’d gotten himself into and unable to find the right way to admit it — but Dean nudged Lana and made a motion to a dead plant in the corner. 

“Neil—“ Dean started with a low voice, glancing around carefully, “Don’t make any sudden moves. Remain calm, and cool, and come with us. She’s here and if she’s as pissed as we think she is — you’re in danger.” 

Neil tensed and he looked around too — but he’d had Angela to himself for sometime now and she hadn’t hurt him so why should he be so worried now, “No. No I’m staying here.” 

“Listen,” Dean’s voice got harder but he caught himself, “The only way to stop her is to nail herself back into her coffin. We have to go to the cemetery. Come with us.”

Neil shook his head. Lana’s heart sank. She wrapped her hand around Dean’s arm and leaned into his ear, “We have to go, it’s too dangerous.” she muttered into his ear. She sure as hell wasn’t going to lose Dean to some zombie chick after all they’d gone through because Ducky Love Neil wouldn’t get with the program, “Come. Come to the cemetery,” Lana pulled on Dean’s arm and they slowly left the room, cautious with every step. 

**The Cemetery**   
By the time Dean and Lana arrived, Sam and Lily had managed to light candles around the grave and prepare to perform a ritual: if they could get Angela back to her grave and that was a big IF.

“Where’s Neil!?” Sam asked, wondering how this would even work without him.

“He wouldn’t come with us, man. But — whatever happens… we pissed her off enough. She’ll come,” Dean said. He couldn’t prove it but this was his gut — just like he’d started this case with a gut feeling — he was ending it. 

“Well I don’t think we’ll get her into the grave if we’re all standing around it staring into it,” Sam put his hands on his hips, “That’s if she even shows up.”

“You’re right,” Lana offered, “Bait?” she said, although she didn’t like the word, “I mean, make her think we’re separated?” she quickly added because they would not be separating very far tonight, “Get her out in the open.”

“I’ll do it,” Sam said. He still felt guilt about everything and if he could be the one on the chopping block and not Dean and sure as hell not Lily or Lana — he would do it. 

“I’m just going to say right now — I don’t like this,” Lily spoke up, “This isn’t a good plan.”

“It may be the only one we’ve got,” Dean said, “We’ll be covering you, Sammy. We won’t be far. Just — don’t get dropped by a chick before we can nail her. I mean… literally. I mean… you know what I mean!” Dean flushed at his word usage.

Lana patted his shoulder, “We know, baby,” she smiled. She gave Sam a nod and took Lily by the hand, leaving him to walk a few feet into the wooded area. The cemetery became deathly silent. Nothing but crickets and the far off sound of cars. 

Luckily, Dean was right. It wasn’t long before Angela appeared in the graveyard. She tried to sneak up on Sam but he was ready -- with his long-ass legs he bolted back towards the grave but Angela was the fucking flash and tackled him to the ground. 

“HEY! Bitch!” Dean yelled as Sam fought her off. Dean’s call made her stand up and turn around to take him down with a few well-fired shots she fell back into her grave bed. Lana and Lily pounced. Lana speared the woman with a metal stake into the coffin before Lily slammed the lid shut. 

“Woo! That’s what I’m talking about!” Dean exclaimed. They were back, baby! Lily ran to Sam who cradled his wrist to his chest, “Are you okay?” she breathed, her hands falling all over his front to try and see if Angela had done any damage.

“I’m fine,” Sam assured her. His arm hurt but he wasn’t going to worry her. Really, he’d had more struggle with hitting the ground than with fighting Angela off. Lily turned around to make sure Dean and Lana were okay. Lana and Dean glanced into the open grave and Lana looked up with tired realization, “We have to fill this hole in, don’t we?” 

“And leave a chance that Zombie Barbie gets out again?” Dean asked. 

“We have to rebury her,” Sam nodded, “It’s only right.” 

“And I think Dean can take point on this because Sam’s obviously hurt from being bait.” Lily said pointedly.

Dean opened his mouth to protest but Lana placed her hand on her chest, “I’ll help you, babe. A hurt lip won’t stop me from digging.” 

Lily stepped up, worried, “Your lip. Did she get you?” she reached to Lana’s face, running her thumb over the other woman’s lip.

That threw Lana for a loop for a minute. “What? No. She was easy. Dean bit my lip.”

“ _ Lanni _ …” Dean told her in a warning tone.

She supposed when she heard him say her name, that okay, maybe that wasn’t what she should have said in the moment. After all, Lily and Sam had no idea what she was talking about because they hadn’t been there. They’d thrown to horny adults in the same car and told them to go talk to a guy that clearly had a thing for the deceased and they didn’t know they’d started going at anything in the car.

“When?” Lily asked her, looking at Dean then because he had hushed Lana. “When did he--when did you two even have time to do anything?”

Lana was blushing as Dean shook his head at her. “What?” she asked him. “We are  _ masters _ of a quickie! Give us ten minutes and a hidden corner in a church, and we’d have eternal damnation thrust upon us!”

“I don’t want to hear this…” Sam told them, shaking his head. “I also don’t know when you’d have time.”

“We didn’t do anything!” Dean protested, waving his hands. “We didn’t! We didn’t have time.”

Lana opened up her mouth to say something else but Dean snapped at her, and Lily was now looking back and forth at them like a disapproving mother. She also knew that Lana was going to break because she did  _ not _ like Dean snapping at her.  _ She _ was the bossy one in this relationship, and he knew it, but he also didn’t want to get into trouble right now.

“Do you remember what happened last time you two had sex in the middle of a hunt?” Lily asked them point blank.

Dean sighed loudly. “Yes, and I was not paired up with you, I was paired up with Legs, here.”

“Do not blame me!” Lana snapped at him. “You started it!”

“But we didn’t do it!” Dean protested loudly. “Not that it would actually be bad if we did. I am a grown man!”

Lana scoffed, which made Lily smile a little. “Who is currently acting like a  _ child _ .”

“You know what? I don’t want your help with the grave anymore,” Dean responded, moving his hands to motion for her to go. “Go away. You’re getting us into trouble.”

“You couldn’t keep your hands off of each other for like five minutes?” Sam asked, admittedly a little amused by the display right now.

Lana sighed loudly. “We didn’t have sex. Neil tapped on the window of the car, but honestly, it was just a...kiss…” She had almost said ‘innocent’, but in reality they probably would have gone right at it there in the front seat had Neil not interrupted them. “He startled us, and Dean bit me.”

“And yet...you’re  _ guilty _ ,” Lily pointed out, nodding when Dean sighed. “Yep. I may not be a human lie detector, but I know you two need to cool off. We should all bunk down together tonight.”

“But separate rooms!” Dean protested. “That’s for your benefit too!”

“Yeah, why am  _ I _ getting punished?” Sam asked Lily suddenly. “I like not having them in the room with us. No offense of course.”

Lana laughed. “None taken. We’re still getting out ‘separation horniness’ so we’re not much fun to be around.”

“Why do you have to word it like that?” Sam asked, but he laughed too.

He had missed her a lot more than he had said out loud, and he was glad she was back even though she sometimes just helped Dean to get away with things. Sam would probably be acting the same with Lily if it had been Lily gone and not Lana, so he could understand, but he also definitely didn’t want to hear about it. Plus he was pretty sure that Lana had said she’d keep Dean in line, and she clearly had not.

“I guess you were right, Lily...well kind of. They  _ did _ get stuff done,” Sam reminded her. “They did talk to Neil.”

Dean pointed at Sam. “Exactly. I would have much rather gotten a certain someone done, but I haven’t had time. She made me put clothes on and buy her coffee this morning.”

“I’m sorry, who had his arm around me the whole time because he was being a sexy, clingy boyfriend when we ordered?” Lana asked, nodding when he pursed his lips together. “Yeah. Thought so.”

Sam couldn’t help but find this whole thing much funnier than Lily found it, and yet somehow, he and Dean were out voted on the room. Lana decided that after a hunt like this, it was probably a good idea to all be together, and Dean didn’t want to be in his motel room all by himself. Lily was very happy with this decision, and once they got back to the motel she asked the front desk for a cot.


	34. War is Brewing

**The Motel  
** Dean was not at all happy that he was being banished to the cot while Lily called getting to snuggle with Lana. Lana felt fine with that, but then it was  _ Sam’s _ turn to protest because he wanted to snuggle with Lily. Since he was being banished to the cot, Dean asked Sam to go with him to go and get them some dinner, and they each were sent off with a kiss from their girl, and then the girls got ready for bed.

“That hunt felt a little close to home,” Lily admitted as she got into bed with Lana.

Lana nodded slowly. “Yeah, I mean...Neil wanted to have her all to himself so much that he brought her back from the  _ dead _ . At least neither of us ever has to worry about a cheating boyfriend though.”

“No, no we do not,” Lily laughed, shaking her head. “Those two are the most loyal men we could have found.”

“Even with his flirting, Dean’s not going anywhere. He likes the attention and he likes to tease, but at the end of the day I know he’s mine. I mean, over a month that poor guy waited,” Lana pointed out. “He could have picked up someone else and moved on.”

Lily shook her head. “He really couldn’t have. I mean...you get him on a level that literally no one else does. Same with me and Sam. There is too much in this life that they could never explain to anyone else.”

She had a point, which made Lana nod her head even though she was a little worried about one thing in particular. At no point during that hunt did she need to rely on her abilities, and yet...she knew her father was right and she needed to practice. If she didn’t practice, she wouldn’t be fully prepared for what came next, and she wanted to be prepared. She also wanted to have a very,  _ very _ important future conversation with Dean, but it just wasn’t time for that yet. Then again, she could always start with Lily.

“Do you ever…” Lana began, but then she chewed on her lip. “I mean...before you got dragged into all of this, did you ever think about what being married to Sam would be like?”

Lily was a little thrown by the timing of the question, but she nodded. “I mean, of course I did. Sam and I had our apartment together, and I figured someday we’d have a house...maybe a dog. We both love dogs. Why?”

“I just guess I’ve been thinking about things, especially ever since Dean mentioned that conversation you all had about what would happen if they never hunted?” Lana asked, nodding when Lily did. “I don’t know, I guess, when I was little I always thought I’d fall in love, get married, have like three kids, and do something in a museum or a gallery, and then Lance came along and I couldn’t marry him. He asked and I felt this pit in my stomach--I knew it was wrong. Then I think about Dean sometimes and I wonder what would happen if I decided I still wanted part of that dream, and I don’t know...I’m rambling.”

It didn’t feel like the right moment to talk about it, mainly because there was still a lot to do to mend, and she wasn’t sure she and Dean could handle more seriousness right now with how she’d just peaced out on them, and she just smiled at Lily. She didn’t need to bring the whole room down right now when they were still mending after it all. Especially when the prophecy still loomed over Lily’s head. She probably didn’t even want to  _ think _ about kids right now.

Lily stopped what she was doing to listen. It was the subject they all thought about but no one wanted to talk about. Anytime the subject came up it was dropped fairly quickly in favor of an immediate problem and then left for dead. How could they even think about the future when everyday it was hard to see if they even had one at all? She reached out and touched Lana’s arm gently, “It’s okay to think about that stuff… I mean, aren’t we doing this so that one day we don’t have to?” 

Lana gave her a nod and turned away, busying herself with finding her pajamas deep in her duffle, “Yeah, I guess. But — Dean’s never known anything else. That’s what makes him different from the three of us…he’s never seen the other side and I don’t know if he even wants out.” 

Lily bit her lip. Lana wasn’t wrong — Dean was comfortable here, it was all he’d ever known. He had his family, his girl, and a job he was good at: who would want to leave that? “But maybe one day, you get to show him,” Lily said kindly. She wanted her friend to know that she would do anything to make that dream a reality for her but they both understood Dean on a molecular level. It wouldn’t be that easy, “I mean, Sam and I haven’t even really talked about —“ Lily paused. Demon baby? Hell spawn? Aka their own children? “—but I don’t know, there’s part of me that still has hope. If we can kill the yellow-eyed demon and secure normal lives I mean… doesn’t that mean everything gets to be normal?” 

Lana remained faced away from Lily but she couldn’t hide her feelings from the empath. Her mind rang with her father’s stories: how this was bigger than him — it was heaven and hell and everything in between: the war of all wars. She had a terrible feeling that even when they killed Azazel that it didn’t cure all their hellish woes. 

“Lana?” Lily asked, straightening up at the shift in Lana’s mood, “Do you know something I don’t?” 

Lana turned around, knowing she owed Lily at least a little bit of truth, “Look, nothing’s certain. I—“ but as she started to tell her it might be bigger than Azazel’s plan — the door opened and the boys entered with bags of food. 

“I think I’ve outdone myself!” Dean announced, “And therefore will be working my way off the cot, you’ll see,” they swept into the room to put the food on the table. 

“Oh?” Lana gave Lily one last look, knowing this conversation now had to wait, “And what’s so amazing that you think you’ll be sleeping in my bed tonight?” 

“Chinese,” Dean smirked, opening one of the bags to pull out a couple take-out containers, “Smells good as hell too.” 

Lana kept a ‘I don’t think Hell smells good’ quip to herself and instead, “Chinese? That’s cheating. You know it’s my weakness.”

Dean smirked, “I know.” He held up a small container, “And guess who got you your own order of rangoons?” he waggled his brows proudly. 

Lana laughed and stepped over to him and plucked the container from his fingers, “Thanks babe. But you know your sleeping placement isn’t up to me,” she couldn’t wait and cracked the container open to inhale her first crab rangoon. 

Lily gave a smug smile and slipped herself into Sam’s lap when he sat at the table to unbox the food. She and Dean had a stare down but it was interrupted by Lana on her bed, “MMM…” she moaned loudly, “God! This is so good.” 

Sam chuckled, “You know we have a second room if you need to be alone,” he shook his head at Lana’s sex-food-fueled noises. 

“Maybe,” Lana replied thoughtfully with her mouthful. 

“Alright,” Dean shrugged his jacket off, “I need to eat before the smell of Chinese food permanently turns me on,” he said, taking a seat at the table. 

“Do you have to say those things out loud?” Sam asked, motioning to an array of food on the table, “Some of us don’t want to lose our appetites.”

“Oh, come on Sammy. Don’t be so sensitive,” Dean cracked open a beer as he surveyed which dish he was going to destroy first. He was allowing himself to fall into his routine with them and ignore any lingering feelings for the moment: it’s where he thrived. 

“I’m not sensitive,” Sam returned quickly in a half-pout. 

“Please, you cry every time Old Yeller comes on,” Dean returned. However it was met by both girls returning, “So do I,” at the same time. But Dean merely smirked, “My point exactly.” 

Sam huffed out from his nostrils but Lily brought his face to her lips and kissed his cheek, “Don’t worry. It’s kinda sexy.”

“It’s true,” Lana called over, her mouth full of a third rangoon. 

“Oh come on,” Dean scoffed, taking an extra large bite of food, not wanting to admit that crying at a movie could be considered ‘sexy’ by the women in his life. So he chewed in such a manner that would definitely not be considered sexy. Except to Lana, but she was whipped too.

Sam ate his noodles smugly, his arm wrapped tightly around Lily’s waist as she picked off of his plate. 

“So, tomorrow my Mom thinks we should head back to Bobby’s,” Lana interjected after she’d demolished her order of rangoons. She slipped off the bed to steal more food from the table.

“Is that so?” Dean asked, spewing a little of his rice as he spoke. 

“I mean, I think she missed me and it’d be nice to see her for longer than a car ride,” Lana offered, picking out the perfect egg roll, “But she says her and Bobby have a possible case they want to go over and my Mom also will want to take out your stitches, Lily.”

That was a good point: there were other reasons to go back. At the same time, it had Lana in the mindset she had been in before, thinking about the future. How easy it was to have Bobby’s house be their refuge. Couldn’t they have that on their own? A house the four of them could just call their own until something else happened? Then they wouldn’t have to  _ constantly _ be on the road...they could have actual downtime and still be together and apart.

Lana wanted to shake the thoughts out of her head, but if there really was a huge Heaven vs. Hell thing on the horizon, then they weren’t going to get to have much of anything. So shouldn’t they be making the most of their moments now? Shouldn’t they be making sure that they were living how they wanted before they were thrown into someone else’s cosmic mess? The thoughts were making her much too pensive for her own liking, and when she glanced over at Lily, she knew that she wasn’t hiding her sudden onslaught of feelings from her either. Didn’t mean she didn’t just shrug and shake her head when the two made eye contact.

“You’re suddenly quiet,” Dean piped up, however.

Lana smiled at him and shook her head. “Just enjoying my food, thank you.”

He wasn’t sure that he believed it, but he let it go for now because he could ask her about it later. They hadn’t actually sat down and talked to her about what she had been through without them, but he didn’t want to ruin this moment either. They were finally all just sitting down and enjoying each other’s company and having a nice time, and for just a moment they could ignore their lives. He would never be the one to admit it first, but he got tired of this job sometimes, and he enjoyed these moments too.

“I was enjoying hearing you enjoy it,” he winked, shrugging his shoulders at Sam when Sam protested.

Sam shook his head even though he was smiling. “I feel like I’m being punished.”

“It’s not a punishment to have us all under one roof,” Lily told him, stealing a kiss and then smiling. “It’s been too long since we have been able to be.”

That was an  _ understatement _ , and the four let the sentence hang in the air there before they started to talk about other things instead. Dean brought up the carnival case and took the moment to tease Sam about clowns again, before they all finished off the food and Lily settled into bed with Lana. Dean hadn’t gotten himself off of the cot, but he knew he wasn’t the only one that had missed his girl, and so he was letting it slide. Besides, he was so stuffed he was kind of tired, and he closed his eyes when Sam turned the light off.

He was still on his phone, getting ready to head out in the morning, and Lana and Lily snuggled up together, Lily finding herself forgetting for two seconds that she was mad at Dean, and telling him that he had been right all along: Lana’s feet were cold as ice. That made the hunter laugh and tell Lana that he had told her so, and then warn her not to get used to Lily warming her feet up, because that was  _ his _ job. Everything felt so much lighter and happier, and at some point later, Lily had drifted off to sleep and Sam smiled.

“I’ll take her back now,” Sam whispered to Lana, getting out of his bed and gathering up the woman that he loved.

Lana laughed and nodded at him. “I completely understand.”

After Sam tucked Lily into him, Lana got up and moved over to the cot, reaching out to run her fingers through his hair. She almost didn't want to ask the question when his eyes were still closed and he was clearly tired, but he smiled gently when she ran her fingers through his hair.

"You too tired, baby?" Lana asked him in a whisper.

Dean kept his eyes close. "Just resting."

"You wanna go have sex in the car or just snuggle in the bed?" Lana asked, wanting to leave it up to him.

"I'm still here!" Sam chastised in a whisper.

Just like that, Dean was up off of the cot and nodding. "Car. Definitely the car."

He grabbed her hand and led her out the door, Sam shaking his head at them. They were all dead if Lily woke up and they weren't where they had been, but he knew that Lana and Dean were just happy to have each other back. They were all happy to have her too, but it honestly just wasn't the same.

**Backseat of the Impala - Later  
** Lana still felt a little bad for not letting him sleep, but Dean was in a very good mood, and she smiled as she rested her head against him, his fingers gliding through her hair. He definitely hadn't been too tired to perform--something she knew that he would never let her forget.

"I'm glad I'm back," Lana said gently, smiling when he nodded in agreement and kissed her temple. "You seem happy too."

Dean nodded slowly. "I am. We went through it, and I never even asked if you were okay."

"I'm fine, I'm just…" Lana shrugged her shoulders. "Trying to settle back in. Sometimes I think I'm going to wake up and all of it was a dream."

"Me too...but something else is up," Dean told her, kissing her forehead when she looked at him. "Something is eating away at you, so talk to me."

Lana knew she needed to say something, but how? She had no idea how to bring this up, or talk about any of it, and there was so much that they  _ all _ needed to know. So, she'd just keep this to the two of them and tell them all about angels and war when they were on the ride back to Bobby’s.

"I've just been thinking about us," Lana admitted, smiling when Dean looked a little worried. "Not like that. We are good, I'm just thinking about future stuff--and the past. Lance, kids, where we wanna be in ten more years...that kind of stuff."

"Why are you thinking about Lance?" Dean asked her.

Lana shook her head. "Not like that. Thinking about how after three years I couldn't marry him and yet ten years from now I can so easily picture being married to  _ you _ . That's what I meant."

Dean smiled at her words but didn't say anything, stealing a kiss so she knew he had heard her. He hadn't given the marriage idea a thought at all, but now  _ he _ was going to be thinking about it. Would he even be a good husband? Was he destined to turn into John?

"I like the sound of that," he admitted, starting to grab his clothes. "Maybe we circle back after your dad is dead?"

Lana smiled and nodded, willing to shelve it for now, both of them heading back into the room to snuggle up together.

When Lily woke up, she found Dean in Lana’s bed and herself in with Sam. Now, she wasn’t upset because she was literally locked in under one of Sam’s massive arms but she looked over Lana and Dean as they slept: how could she be mad? They both slept so soundly and she knew that was their happy place. Did she have to forgive Dean for the sake of Lana? Lily let out a sigh as she processed that little bit of emotion. 

“It’s too early for that,” Sam murmured in her ear. She gave a smile as he planted a sleepy kiss to her neck.

“Never too early for an existential crisis,” she returned, happy to stay right here for now and let the other two take their time waking up. 

“Want to talk about it?” He asked, unable to keep his lips off of her skin. 

“No, it’s nothing. But you can keep doing what you're doing,” she replied with a content sigh. 

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” suddenly Lana’s voice rang in with theirs. Her eyes remained closed but it caused Sam and Lily to look over to the other bed. 

“That’s not a very long list,” Lily chided before she let out a squeal as Sam squeezed her ass suddenly, “Hey!”

“What! I mean Lana’s  _ done _ that! Figured I could too...” Sam teased. Lana opened her eyes and looked over to the pair. This was where she found happiness — in the happiness of those around her.

“Isn’t it too early for sounds high enough for a dog to hear?” Dean groaned, rolling onto his side to face Lana, his arm coming to drape over her chest. 

“Not when you need to be awake,” Lana replied, tapping his nose with her index finger.

He opened one eye, “What? We gotta get to Bobby’s before dinner or something?”

“Might be nice,” Sam replied, “Florence would probably like to have dinner with her daughter. I mean, Bobby too.” 

Dean sighed and rubbed his eyes, “Yeah, alright.” 

“But, you know what we need?” Lana asked, biting her lip as Dean came to look at her. 

“Lemme guess,” Dean sat up, brushing his hand over his messy hair, “Shower sex.” He couldn’t help but smirk at his own smarmy joke. 

Lana shook her head, “No way. You need to earn that...” 

Sam gave a little groan and pressed his head into the pillow. He was beginning to think there was no escaping his brother’s sex life. What sort of fresh Hell was he doomed to? 

“Yeah, coffee, I know,” Dean said, put-out his suggestion was so quickly shut down, “I still don’t see why we can’t just drink that stuff.” He motioned vaguely to the motel’s coffee maker. “I mean it’s free, it’s right there...a lot faster than me driving up and down in search of something better.”

“It’s like you don’t even love me,” Lana mocked insult, “That you would relegate your loving girlfriend to drink that swill...” 

“Come on now, don’t get dramatic,” he laughed, pushing out of bed until his bare feet hit the floor. 

“Oh baby,” she leaned up, coming to press her body to his back, her chin resting on his shoulder, “I haven’t even started dramatic yet...”

“Yep, alright,” Dean stood quickly and found his jeans from yesterday — throwing them on, “Got it. Coffee. As long as you three pack up while I’m gone. Guess I’ll fuel her up while I’m out too.”

“Get an extra large please,” Lily asked as Dean rooted around for his keys.

“Ooo me too,” Lana added, still lounging in bed. 

“Needy, needy,” he shook his head before he could locate his keys in yesterday’s shirt, “Alright. I mean it. This place better be ship shape when I get back,” he teased them before he was out of the room and in the Impala (that still smelled vaguely of last night’s sin. So, Dean rolled down the windows as he made his way to the main strip).

**Sioux Falls, SD  
** It wasn’t a terribly long drive. Six hours and some change which was child’s play to them. Bobby and Florence were eager to have them back — all four of them, a complete unit. Everyone was much more tolerable when they were all together. 

When they reached Bobby’s house, Florence and Bobby were over the moon to officially welcome Lana back. 

“Where’s  _ my _ warm welcome? Man could get a complex,” Dean smirked despite his genuine happiness that Lana was being lauded over. 

“The day you get as pretty as that girl, we’ll throw you a dang party,” Bobby teased him.

“No new bumps or bruises, huh?” Florence looked over Lily after their hug and Lily smiled and shook her head, “No. Zombie girl wasn’t too bad.” 

Sam and Dean laughed.

“Speak for yourself,” Sam said, having been the one tackled to the ground in the graveyard by her and the one responsible for digging up her grave in the first place. 

“Oh you’re fine, Sammy,” Florence waved her hand at him, “Look at you.” 

“I agree,” Lily nodded making Florence laugh at the double meaning, “It’s good to have you all home.” She breathed like the mother she was because for this time in their lives Bobby’s house meant home for all of them.

Being back at Bobby’s made them all feel so much better about everything, and honestly, it was the best time to talk things out. After all, Lana was finally back and they could talk about what she had gone through.. she knew they had hunted without her and the world had continued to turn, but now there was more on the horizon.

"Before dinner, do you think we could all talk?" Lana asked them, nodding when they did.

Everyone piled into the living room and then Lana stood, trying to figure out how to say it. Everything she had learned had been far fetched at best, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense to her. Plus, there was zero reason for Azazel to lie to her--sure he had probably omitted a lot, but that was also obvious to her.

"I learned a lot when I was gone, and no, unfortunately I do not have the Colt. I wasn't a good enough actress to convince him to trust me on that front." Lana began, taking a deep breath. "He is readying for war."

Lily nodded slowly. "I had a feeling."

"But not just with humans, and not just for himself," Lana told them.

"Someone else is pulling his strings?" Dean asked, shaking his head. "That is definitely not the news that I wanted to hear. This demon has been our end goal all of our lives and now you're telling me he isn't even the head honcho?"

Lana nodded at him. "I'm telling you he's not even the head honcho. I'm sure your father will hate to know that too when we tell him, but this is serious you guys.. This goes beyond him, but somehow we are linked to it."

She motioned between herself, Lily and Sam when she said that, Lily and Sam both making similar faces. They hadn’t exactly wanted to hear that their fight wouldn't be over after Azazel. In the back of everyone's minds,, Azazel was the last fight and then maybe things could go back to normal but now? Now there was a complete possibility that they might  _ never _ be out.

No wonder Lana had been thinking about the future.

Lily suddenly wished they had finished their conversation earlier, but at least it was better late than never that Lana was talking to them all about this. She had been with her father for over a month and it was clear she had been trying to get to the heart of things. They still had to find him to forcibly get the Colt back,, but at least they were also getting answers..

"Apparently, there are a lot of demons that, like my dear old dad, are readying for a war. A war that involves the  _ actual devil _ . Like  _ Lucifer _ . Fallen angel...Lucifer." Lana explained, watching as the wheels turned in everyone's heads..

"Wait," Bobby spoke up. "I mean, I've had my theories, but there is no lore on angels. There are plenty of stories, but no concrete facts."

Lana nodded at him. "Well, we discussed Revelations a little."

"I mean, it had to be based on  _ something _ ," Florence mused out loud.

"No, no--because then that means there's a God, and I refuse to believe he lets us rot in this shit show," Dean said suddenly, shaking his head. "Demons lie."

Lily spoke up gently. "Azazel hasn't lied to any of us yet…"

That truth made a silence descend on the whole room, and no one spoke for a little while. They were all trying to wrap their heads around what they had just heard. Demons were readying themselves for Armageddon, and now they might have to deal with angels mixed? The devil himself? That was a lot for all of them to swallow, but when Florence spoke up again and Bobby grabbed the Bible, they started to connect a lot of dots in what Lana was saying.

"So this prophecy?" Lily began tentatively. "I assume this demon child is supposed to help the devil somehow?"

Sam squeezed her hand. "We don't know for sure."

"I think we know," she snapped gently.

Sam was remembering his dream all too vividly now, knowing that his visions came true unless he stopped them. What if Hell really  _ did _ want Lily? What if their child was supposed to help with some future war between Heaven and Hell? Sam wasn't sure that he could stomach that kind of future, and he was trying to hide his emotions from Lily even though he was pretty sure she still felt them.

"All I know is he's convinced himself I will help in the end, and that the prophecy must come true," Lana explained, shaking her head. "I only know what I saw and heard. This isn't a joke, and I really don't think that it's a ploy. This is going to get really bad at some point and I don't even know how to prepare."

Florence took a deep breath. "We just do what we've been doing, but also we need to look into any leads we can."

"Easier said than done, but yes," Bobby agreed, smiling a little when Florence got a call and left the room. "I just wish I knew what more to tell you four. This is bigger than I was expecting."

It was bigger than what they  _ all _ were expecting, and they had to take a minute to process it. Angels being real was easy enough for Lana now that she'd sat and thought about it. Miracles  _ did _ happen, and she had believed in the notion of guardian angels as a child so...why not avenging angels? Why not angels in general? She just wished she could be on  _ their _ side and not her father’s.

"So how do we shelve it?" Dean asked, his question directed right at Lana. "How do we shelve anything when we might not have anything?"

She knew  _ exactly _ what he was referring to, but it was clear that Bobby, Sam and Lily had no idea what he meant. Lana had come back wanting to talk about the future, and instead, Dean was being given another fight on the horizon. Another battle. How could he even begin to imagine being settled when his life was just going to be uprooted again?

"We can shelve anything we want to," Lana told him with a shake of her head. "Anything."

Sam had no idea what was going on, but spoke up. "Maybe we should just attack everything head on instead of shelving anything."

"Sam…" Lily said gently, shaking her head. Feeling Lana's and Dean’s feelings was enough for her to know they needed to not right now. "Right now, I think we should focus on dinner, unless Lana knows more."

Lana took a breath. "I mean that's basically it. All I know is what Dad wants, so we need to get the Colt before he can get anything."

"Agreed," Dean nodded, Sam and Lily nodding as well. Dean looked up when Florence came back into the room. "What’s that face?"

"A hunt," Florence explained. "You all literally just came off of one though. It's a favor for a friend."

Dean shook his head. "Nonsense: we will take it. Dinner first, though."

He grinned, trying to draw focus to himself, and it worked for the most part. They all agreed to spend the night here and rest so they could take off in the morning, and then no other hunt talk was to be had for dinner. Florence wanted everyone to relax, and it was probably best that they did just that.

It was an unspoken agreement: no one wanted to talk hunt over dinner. No one wanted to talk about Lana’s revelations. Dinner was purely about them and this moment. Besides, with the news that Lana dropped it was likely they needed time to process internally due to the magnitude of literal  _ heaven _ and  _ hell _ on their plates. 

“Florence you have out done yourself!” Dean exclaimed, stabbing his fork into his plate. 

“I have to share the credit with Bobby. It’s his recipe,” Florence said with a smile, “Hell of a cook, our Singer man.” 

“Picked it up in the service and it stuck,” Bobby shrugged, being humble. 

“Bobby—” Dean kissed his fingers causing Bobby to roll his eyes playfully, “Alright, down boy.”

Dean was overcompensating — afraid one of them would bring up something that would tear them down or throw them off their next hunt and he couldn’t risk it. He had his girl, his car, and a hunt — what else did he need? 

“I’ve learned that if I ever have to change careers — grave digger will not be it.” Lily said, unable to stop digging her fork into her plate. The food was so delicious and ultra comforting. 

“These boys made you dig up a grave?!” Florence’s jaw dropped as she let out a laugh of disbelief. 

“Woah, wait!—“ Dean started, his mouth full. 

“No,” Lily laughed, “No! Don’t worry. I just held the flashlight…but it was enough to make that decision final.” 

The table broke into a fit of laughter. 

“Dean — your  _ face _ ,” Sam started with a smirk, “You were  _ terrified _ you were about to be in trouble with Florence.” 

“Yeah, well… look at her,” Dean replied in defense, “You Meckenzie women, you’re dangerous…” he shook his head. 

Lana patted his knee, “At least you know,” she leaned in and kissed his cheek making him smile into his food, unable to keep up his pout, “Besides, when the boys do it — it’s a nice little show.”

“Oh geez,” Bobby spoke up, causing the table to laugh again, “You kids. You’re too much for an old geezer like me.” 

“That’s not true,” Lily smiled, “Don’t worry. Sam feels the same way you do — there’s no off button on them.” She referred to Lana and Dean. 

“Yeah well Sammy and Munchkin here aren’t so innocent!” Dean returned. 

“We’re a lot better than you two. Can you imagine what Neil could have interrupted if he’d found you both two minutes later?” Sam shot back. 

“Neil?” Florence asked. 

“The necromancer,” Lana informed her mother — not that it cleared much up for her but she was happy the four of them were decompressing and having some fun with each other. 

“Well he definitely needed an example of what a real relationship looks like so too bad for him,” Dean returned, “I mean, geez.” 

“Is car sex a good example of a real relationship?” Lily asked which caused Sam to choke on his bite of food. Dean gave her a look, “Yeah, well…” he grumbled off, unable to find anything to defend himself with. Lily smiled triumphantly. 

“Alright, alright,” Bobby spoke up again, “Why don’t we change the subject. Dean — how’s that car of yours runnin’?” 

**Later that Evening  
** Florence took Lily into the study with the first aid kit and a bottle of whiskey as the house dispersed after dessert. Lana disappeared to shower, Sam was hitting his laptop about the case they were taking and Dean had taken Bobby out to show him the car and talk. 

“Alright, so. First things first.” Florence offered Lily a shot before she took one herself. With a face, Lily threw it back but she was getting used to whiskey on the road with Sam and Dean and luckily, Bobby stocked the good stuff. 

“Perfect!” Florence clapped her hands together. She opened the first aid kit and motioned with one hand, “Alright, up up…” she motioned to Lily. Lily removed her shirt and set it aside so Florence could get a better look at her stitches. She began to clean her healing wound, “Well, it looks good.” she assured Lily.

“Yeah, it really doesn’t hurt anymore,” Lily replied as Florence pulled tools out of the kit and sterilized them. 

“Good,” Florence said with a loving smile, “And I’m glad to see you all came back this time in one piece.” 

Lily nodded, “Yeah. They were on their best behavior… mostly. Lana is usually good at keeping Dean in line… most of the time,” she gave a little laugh. 

“She was always a bossy one. My Annie still hasn’t totally gotten over it,” Florence laughed a little, “Okay. Now.” Florence readied another shot for Lily and handed it over. 

“Again?” Lily asked, “Is it going to hurt that bad?” 

“It just sucks, getting stitches removed. It’s weird and uncomfortable but if you let that whiskey warm you up it won’t be so bad,” Florence offered, “Trust me.” 

Lily threw back the shot with another scrunched face, “Ohh, boy.”

“Yeah, it’s good stuff,” Florence laughed a little. “Okay, why don’t you lean back and just relax, hon?” 

Florence coaxed Lily into a comfortable position and was finally able to go to work under the lamplight removing the sixteen stitches on Lily’s chest. When she was done and she cleaned Lily up she frowned a little, “Alright, it looks really good, babe but uh — I am pretty sure this is going to scar. Nothing grizzly but, still.” She rubbed the girls shoulder. 

“It’s okay. Those three all have their battle scars, why not me too?” Lily asked. 

Florence wanted to draw Lily in for a hug and keep her there forever, “I’m not sure how they found you but I am so grateful they did,” Florence admitted. She began to pack up the supplies and when she grabbed the whiskey she glanced from the bottle to Lily and back, “Well…you know, one for the road?”

Lily smiled, “One more couldn’t hurt… I mean… I’m  _ wounded _ …” she put on a fake pout and Florence laughed, pouring them each other heavy handed shot and shooting it together. The women laughed together at their silly hidden drinking game. 

“Mm…yeah, I can feel the pain going away like magic,” Lily teased, the familiar feeling of floating arising in her body — the one that accompanied large amounts of liquor. 

“Well, I  _ was _ a certified nurse for a time.” Florence gave a fake bow.

“What haven’t you done?” Lily asked with true adoration for the woman in front of her — the only motherly figure in her life. 

“Mm… Brad Pitt… yeah,” Florence responded making Lily laugh harder. 

“Yeah, well, he’s got nothing on Bobby,” Lily winked.

Florence held up the whiskey with a little shake, “I’ll drink to that.” 

**Lana and Dean’s Room  
** “Lily seemed to be better with me tonight,” Dean said proudly, “Things are looking up since you got back.” 

Dean reached out and pulled on Lana’s towel so she was pressed against him. Lana wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled, “I can’t disagree with that second part because I  _ know _ I’m the life of this party,” She teased, planting a gentle kiss to his lips but when she pulled apart she became the rainy cloud, “But — You know Lily. She doesn’t want to cause a scene… Dean, what happened was huge. It was deep. I mean my Mom is removing her  _ stitches _ like right now… it’s going to take a bit more to make it okay. And you owe it to her to make it okay.” 

Dean sighed, his thumbs rubbing up and down along the smooth curve of her hips, “Yeah…” he muttered, the exhaustion slowly slipping through his happy facade, “You’re right, you’re right.” 

“Of course I am,” Lana gave him a comforting smile before kissing him again, “So you better listen, mister.”

“And what if I don’t?” he asked with a smirk on his face.

Lana smirked back. “You know what happens now when you get  _ punished _ .”

“Oh, but I  _ like _ that,” Dean whispered, kissing her tenderly.

Yeah, she had new powers now and he needed to know what all they were, but he was also thoroughly enjoying that he had his girlfriend back. At the same time, they had been only taking the time to reconnect on the ‘good’ parts, and they hadn’t really sat down and thought about the other parts. Thought about what this meant. After what happened with Gordon...Dean knew it had to be addressed. Not to mention Lana wanted to sleep because Dean had grabbed a hunt for them without consulting the rest of them.

“Well I need sleep--I have to get up tomorrow, remember?” Lana asked him, pulling away to grab sleep clothes.

Dean laughed and nodded. “I guess I deserved that.”

“Oh, you did. You’re barely giving any of us time to rest,” Lana responded, shedding the towel and pulling clothes on as Dean took clothes off. “This seems...backwards somehow.”

“It is,” Dean agreed with a laugh of his own, but soon they were turning the lights off and crawling into bed together.

Lana immediately rested her head on his chest and held him close, Dean kissing the top of her head and running his fingers through her damp hair. It was such a nice little moment, but Dean was already ruining it when he opened up his mouth to talk to her.

“When we were with Gordon, I think I got a little  _ rattled _ ,” Dean admitted out loud. “I mean I absolutely loved the guy at first, but the more he kept talking about black and white, the more I think I started to see red flags, but I didn’t want to acknowledge them. You would have put him in his place.”

Shrugging, Lana took a breath. “The way I hear it, I might have liked him at first too. You know me. Sadly, I also kind of love hunting and I never really got it, but I think I’m darker than I originally thought.”

“Lanni…” Dean warned gently.

“No, Dean, it’s okay. I’m half  _ demon _ . On some level we have to acknowledge that I like control and I don’t mind killing sometimes,” Lana told him, nodding when he sighed but didn’t argue. “I don’t have the luxury of seeing things in black and white, but I like to make things pay for hurting people. For hurting innocents...my family...all of it. What worries me is that he’s going to hold a grudge.”

Dean nodded slowly. “I know, which I worry about too. I would never let him hurt Lily again, but it worries me too that there are other hunters out there  _ just like him _ . What if I ran into one that decided that Lily and Sam needed to be hunted because they have abilities? What if someone tried to hurt  _ you _ ? I’d end them.”

“I know you would, and I’d help you,” Lana promised, sighing a little bit. “It’s something we’re going to have to figure out because demons know now. They know that I exist now, and I’m a target.”

That was what he had worried about in the beginning, but now if she was a target then so was he. He couldn’t be without her and he refused to be if he could help it. More than anything, Dean wanted to prove that Sam, Lily and Lana were his world. Of course Bobby, Florence and John were included in that, and even Annie, though he’d only met Annie once.

“We’ve got to figure it out,” Dean told her, giving her a squeeze and keeping her close. “I’m not losing you again.”

Lana smiled and nodded at him. “You’re not going to lose me again--not if I can help it. I’m much stronger than I thought that I was, and I’m ready for anything. You should see what I can do now. I popped lightbulbs entering a room for dramatic effect before I left. Oh, he  _ hated _ that.”

“He is the king of theatrics, how could he hate it?” Dean laughed, but he nodded slowly. “What else?”

“I mean, the dream walking, I can pin and move objects and people--which you know because now it’s a sex trick just for us,” Lana laughed, Dean chuckling too. “I mean, if a demon can do it, so can I, but then added benefits. I can send demons to Hell without the Latin, and apparently if I practice enough and give in to who I am, I’ll be able to kill demons with my mind. Burn them out of a host with a touch if I don’t care about the host body, but I do, so it would be with my mind. I can sense demons but they can’t sense me. He said that was an ‘added benefit’ of being half human. Finding me isn’t because they can sense me, it is because they know I’m with  _ you guys _ ,” Lana explained, shaking her head. “I’m not afraid of low level demons anymore--bring them on. I got up to three at a time going back to Hell before he taunted me with the Colt and left my ass alone.”

Dean glanced down at her. “Wait a minute...he just  _ left _ you?”

“He didn’t trust me and he wasn’t going to train me all the way up to kill him,” Lana explained, shaking her head. “That would be bad planning when he needs this damn prophecy completed.”

“Right...demon baby,” Dean nodded slowly. “I mean, that sucks. I always thought that someday Sam was going to have a kid or two and I’d be the favorite, badass uncle.”

Lana nodded slowly. “It  _ does _ suck. Lily didn’t get a single choice in this, and neither did Sam. Then again, I was a mistake--a happy accident. Any child I ever ended up having would just be securing a legacy. Plus, I mean, you don’t want any yellow eyed quarter demons running around, even if they had your perfect bone structure.”

“A little mini you that could beat up any boy that touched her? Or a mini me that could protect you when I couldn’t? Not the end of the world, Lanni,” he admitted, knowing he had just been incredibly vulnerable in that moment.

These important talks were talks he would never have with anyone else, but he’d been thinking a lot about the future since she had brought it up. Even with angels and demons and a war on the horizon, was Lance somewhat right? Should he be more willing to give Lana what she deserved even if she wasn’t willing to just give up this life either? Not that that was a true choice: she could never  _ truly _ be out. At the same time, Dean pictured his future, and Lana was in it, no matter what that future was, and she needed to know that.

He wasn’t going to have another fiasco where she doubted his intentions.

“Oh? You don’t think it’s bad form to  _ purposefully _ procreate with the daughter of the demon that ruined your entire life?” Lana asked him, smiling when he just kissed her. “That’s not an answer…”

Dean kissed her again, however, and she felt all resolve melt away.

“We need to make sure we are all patched up,” Lana found herself saying, Dean protesting with a groan. “What? I know what you want, but you’re doing this to avoid the fact that you’ve basically admitted in the last 24 hours that you’d be okay with marriage and kids at some point.”

“You can’t go around telling people that, okay?” Dean told her with a laugh. “I have this very cool, don’t care about anything attitude.”

Lana scoffed. “You do not! You are whipped. Don’t act like you’re not.”

“Excuse you,” Dean said, but he knew she was right. “I just...I’ve never gotten normal. I’ve been so close, but every time, Dad reminded me that I had a duty. That this job always came first. If I let myself think I can have a normal life, and then I lose it...it’ll hurt worse than just not having it.”

It dawned on her that she had never really actually had a long talk with Dean about how he had been raised, but she also knew that he was always excited about the little things. He had never had a good relationship because of all the moving, he’d never gotten to enjoy school things because he never stayed in one place long enough, and the one time she’d heard about him getting to do a school dance, and spend much needed time away from John, John had come back and he hadn’t gotten to do anything. Not take his crush to a dance, not go to the dance...it was always duty with John. Even when Dean was a teenager. Lana had gotten normal and he never had, and somehow he thought he didn’t deserve it.

“I’ll tell you what, okay?” Lana said, lifting herself up to kiss him tenderly. “You and me. From here on out, we find our own balance. I need a bit more normalcy, and I promise we’ll go on whatever hunts you want. But you and me? Someday, I want to marry you. Someday, I want our own safe house that we can call home. Someday, we are going to crash a prom and I’m going to give you a dance.”

Dean smiled at her lovingly. “And a prom night?”

“Don’t waggle those eyebrows at me,” she laughed, but she nodded. “And a prom night. This needs to be you and me on  _ our _ terms. Not on our parents’. The rest of our family--immediate and extended--are our foundations, but it’s you and me against the world, okay? I never want you to doubt that. You are my future, and I am yours. Can we do that?”

“We can do that,” Dean answered, feeling a weight in his chest lift that he hadn’t even known he was carrying. “You just want to be a Winchester,” he teased her.

“As if. You’d be a Meckenzie,” she replied, laughing when he did. “What?”

“I’m not badass enough to be a Meckenzie,” Dean promised, kissing her again.

Lana smiled and nuzzled his nose with hers. “What would I do without you?”

**Sam and Lily’s Room  
** Having their own room when they were here was always Sam’s favorite part, but he also kind of hated that they were just going to end up on another hunt without much of a rest. Lily had only  _ just _ gotten her stitches out and Florence had been giving her the good whiskey, and  _ straight _ . Plus, Sam had thought that Dean would have liked to just disappear into a room with Lana for longer than 12 hours, but apparently he needed this hunt.

“I wish we had more time to settle,” Sam told Lily when she came into the room, Sam tugging his shirt off. “How did it go with getting your stitches out?”

Lily bit her lip when Sam tugged his shirt off. No matter how much time she spent with him, no matter how many times she saw him shirtless — she couldn’t ever quite comprehend how someone so beautiful went to bed with her every night. 

“-‘s great. Fine,” Lily tried very hard to annunciate her words. The room was on a slight tilt so she remained leaned in the doorway, “Florence was right. It was just sorta weird,” Lily nodded a few more times than necessary. 

Sam narrowed his eyes for a moment as a smile spread across his lips, “You’re drunk, aren’t you?” 

“What? Me? Sam. C’mon...” Lily took a step forward but she struggled making a straight line for him until she’d entered his orbit and put her hand on his broad bare chest. [the narrator has taken a brief break for a cigarette] “It was just a shot or a couple more because stitches,” she said simply. 

Sam laughed, “Oh, right. My mistake,” he placed his hands firmly on her lower back just above the cut of her jeans, “You would never be so irresponsible before a hunt.”

“Exactly,” Lily replied, but Sam could smell the faint twinge of whiskey on her breath. He leaned in and stole a kiss so he could taste it on her tongue. Lily leaned up on the tips of her toes to deepen the embrace, his hands steadying her against his body as she wavered to remain steady on her toes. When they broke apart he gently tugged at the hem of her shirt, “You next.” 

Lily merely threw her arms up and waited. Sam laughed again as he pulled at her shirt and brought it up over her head and tossed it away. He ran his thumb gently along her skin just below her unstitched wound and sighed. Unable to help himself, he leaned in and pressed a kiss to it. Her hand fell against the back of his head and gently dragged her fingertips through his hair, “All better,” she mumbled, her lips against his hair. 

He smiled a little and picked her up suddenly, her legs easily hooking onto his hips so he could move them to the bed and lay her down. The room spun wildly but her focus remained on Sam — the constant. 

“If I could make it all better, I would do anything,” Sam told her, his light eyes searching hers in hopes to convince her of his sincerity. But Lily didn’t need any convincing. She knew. She could feel and she believed. Lily gently ran her fingers through his hair, “You already do,” she breathed, gently pressing her palm to guide his head to her chest. He finally relaxed, his head on her belly so she could play with his hair as she tried to make the room stop spinning. 

After a while, as the room calmed and the night drew on, Lily could feel a warm dampness against her bare belly that she could only identify as tears. Lily stroked his hair and found herself growing teary eyed, wanting to take all of Sam’s pain away. “I love you,” she murmured, unable to find any other words to try and bring comfort his way. 

“I love you,” he returned quietly, “More than anything.”


	35. Tiny Yet Mighty

**The Next Morning  
** Bobby was busy making a breakfast feast. The entire house smelled of eggs and bacon and deliciousness. Florence and Sam were the first up and were camped at Sam’s computer compiling all of the information that her friend had sent along about missing women at an apartment complex in Chicago into a neat file. 

However, it wasn’t long once the bacon smell started permeating the house that Dean had appeared downstairs, “Bobby, you shouldn’t have,” he smirked, reaching for a plate of bacon. Bobby slapped the back of his hand with his spatula, “You’ll wait for the others, boy.” 

Dean withdrew his hand with an “ow!” And glared at Bobby, “You know, your favoritism of those girls is way too obvious.” 

Bobby couldn’t help but chuckle, “Not that you can blame me.”

Dean grumbled and moved for the coffee pot instead. When no spatulas came flying for his hand, he poured himself a cup of coffee to join Sam and Florence at the table, “So what do we got?” 

“So, a friend of a friend went missing. So they looked into it. Apparently there’s been a few single young women that have gone missing from the same apartment building. However, other than their relative age and the apartment building there’s no connection to the women or the times they go missing — and since there’s no sign of foul play there’s not much the police can do so they’re all just open cases,” Florence answered. Sam slid across their file, “But they disappear without a trace. Everything left behind.” 

“Sounds sinister enough,” Dean opened the file and began lazily thumbing through it.

Suddenly, Lana appeared behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck, “Looking for my replacement?” She teased, catching a photo of a pretty young blonde girl.

Dean gave a chuckle, “Even if I was it’s too late for Big Lips Tiffany here — she’s been missing for three years,” he murmured, flipping to the next page. 

Lana hit his chest gently at his comment, “Be nice, she’s probably dead for God’s sakes,” she said, sitting down next to him and taking his coffee as her own. He opened his mouth to protest but stopped himself, too happy in the moment to bicker about coffee. Besides, when she set it down again he’d steal it back. 

“Lily still asleep?” Lana glanced around.

“Afraid that’s my fault,” Florence said sheepishly with a smile, “Might have given the girl a little too much whiskey during our operation. It’s easy to forget she’s so small!” She defended at Lana’s amused look. 

“I never forget,” Dean gave a laugh, tossing the file back to Sam.

“You never let her forget it either,” Lana laughed, shaking her head.

Dean shrugged his shoulders and then sat down next to her, reaching out for her hand, Lana smiling when their fingers interlaced. This was his family--PDA with them was only natural, and he knew that they knew how he felt. He just hoped that next time John showed up, he could  _ also _ be this comfortable. Shaking the thoughts away, however, Dean decided to focus on the hunt at hand.

“So...what other hunter friends do you have?” Dean asked Florence.

She laughed a little. “Your father and I have a lot of connections. I’ve been doing this my whole life, unlike  _ my _ boys,” Florence told him, looking at Bobby and meaning John too. “I have a lot of connections, but there are also a couple of places that hunters can gather around the country. Even a few overseas. If you guys ever want to meet some, there’s this place called ‘The Roadhouse’. Our friend, Ellen Harvelle, runs it with her daughter.”

“Heard the name, never met either,” Lana spoke up, smiling when Dean got up to pour her her own coffee when she stole his again. “When hunters get together though, man. I remember a couple of times that Mom made me go to bed early before poker, drinking and shooting. You’d enjoy it, Dean.”

Dean laughed and nodded. “Sounds like my kind of fun. Plus, now I know why you’re good at poker.”

“Oh, no one beats Mom, but yeah--I blame them too,” Lana laughed.

“I mean, it isn’t like we’ve got the monopoly on hunting,” Sam told Dean with a smile. “There are plenty of more seasoned hunters than us. Probably more than we know about.”

Florence nodded at Sam. “Oh, definitely. We may be a dime a dozen, but that doesn’t make us few in number.”

Sometimes, Sam and Dean were reminded that Lana had been born to someone that hunted their whole lives. That Florence was a woman that had been born to someone who had hunted all their lives. Actually, that made Dean tilt his head.

"Where are your parents, Florence?" Dean asked her slowly. "Unless, I mean…"

It dawned on him that as hunters they could have had untimely deaths, and that maybe no, he shouldn't have asked. Especially when Florence’s face changed a little, but she was still pretty bubbly. There wasn't a lot that could get Florence down and even Lana seemed mostly okay, so maybe it was alright.

"My mother is retired and lives in Michigan with my sisters. That's why Annie is going to college up there. My father actually died of a hunt induced heart attack when I was a teenager. Part of why I hung out with the Campbells so much," she admitted, meaning Mary’s family.

Lana nodded slowly. "I never met Gramps, but I heard a bunch of stories about him."

"I bet your grandmother has ones about you," Dean told her, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "We gotta meet her one of these days."

"Her granddaughter picking a hunter to love. Oh, she'll have a field day," Lana laughed, shaking her head. "After Gramps died she didn't see hunting the same. Part of why Mom is the way she is."

That made sense to all of them, however. A hunter used to the life, loses her husband and wants better for her daughter, who also was in the life, but then Lana came along and even though that meant no one was free really, she had hoped for more. Lana was holding Dean's hand now, however, kissing his fingertips as Lily came down.

"Look, my family will love you," Lana told him honestly. "Hell, Mom approves."

Lily smiled a little. "More Meckenzie women?"

"Only a couple. If we ever end up in Michigan...I have two aunts, some cousins, a grandmother and of course my infamous sister," Lana laughed, getting Lily some coffee and wrapping her in a hug. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," Lily admitted, taking the coffee. "You guys have spoiled me."

Lana laughed and nodded. "Good. Motel swill is just...you boys are never out of the doghouse with this."

"Oh, we know," Sam laughed as he gathered up Lily onto his lap with her cup of coffee. "Good morning."

This was nice, honestly, just getting to be. Yes, they were going to have to hit the road, but at least they were able to spend some much needed time together. Besides, Lana had a whole family that they hadn't even met yet. Annie had almost come when the car accident had happened, but Florence had let her know that Lana was fine. Then she'd chewed her sister out on the phone about making a deal, but she'd been in contact...and Lana wouldn't mind if the others met her.

"Alright, since everyone is up, you may eat," Florence told Dean with a nod.

He practically tore right into the bacon, and Lana smiled at her man before she shook her head and made sure everyone got some food. It was  _ his _ fault they were all about to go on another hunt, and Lana wanted everyone to get food before they left. Not that she didn't like hunts, but like she had told Dean, she also needed normalcy. There had to be a balance for her, and they would work on it.

**Pennsylvania  
** Getting to the case actually wasn't all that hard. It was some driving, but they were all used to it. Gas, snacks, alternating car tunes--and now they were in the apartment building, Lana and Lily sweet talking the landlord into the exact room that they wanted. Sure it took cash, but hustling money? Lana always saved a bit for a rainy day.

"Alright so we need the usual stuff?" Dean asked when they got into the room. "Wait...there's only one bed."

Lana shrugged. "We sleep in shifts. Not ideal, but we needed a place the victims had been and this is the room. Besides, he thought Lily and I were a couple so we just ran with it."

"I'm sorry, what?" Sam asked them with a laugh. "I guess better than me and Dean."

"Hey! I could land a girl like Lily," Lana protested, which made Lily laugh. "Besides, we are a hot couple."

Dean was a little too quiet and Lily said, "Stop picturing it--I mean it."

Lana sent him a look when he was startled out of his thoughts, and then shook her head at him. Then something caught her eye and she moved to the windowsill.

"Well, shit," she announced, Lily to her first. "This is ectoplasm," she touched the black goo. "Only really powerful, really  _ pissed off _ spirits give off ectoplasm."

Lily sighed loudly. "Well that's great."

"Which means research into the history of this building and the land, and looking around the complex for more clues," Sam nodded, chewing on his lip. "Am I allowed to ask for Lana as a study buddy? She's the other history buff…"

Besides, he was trying to get back on Lily’s good side, and that meant letting her get to do scouting. Problem was that meant doing it with Dean, and they weren't really patched up yet. Dean jumped at the chance to fix things, however, and nodded at Sam.

"That'll keep our girls off each other," he teased, winking at Lana when she rolled her eyes. "Besides, maybe Munchkin can sense something.”

Dean and Lily were gone a moment later with Lily’s last warning to Dean to stop picturing her and Lana together. When the door clicked shut both Lana and Sam looked at each other and a pause gripped the room. 

“I guess we’ll see if he comes back at all,” Lana shrugged playfully, giving Sam a smile which caused him to break into a laugh.

“Uh— yeah.... we can only hope he can talk his way out of this one. She’s a firecracker.” Sam reminded her.

“The cutest one we know.”

Lana and Sam could say no more and got to work taking over the kitchen table. Laptop, Sam’s file, amongst other things. It was quick work to fill up the entire surface. Shoes were kicked off, legs were propped up on the table, and furious clicking began around various webpages of public records of the building, the lot, previous landlords, etc.

“Nothing on the landlord. I mean, some gambling debt and a few nights in jail over public intoxication but — nothing we care about,” he shrugged.

“What about the building? For a spirit to manifest ectoplasam? That’s some serious mojo. I doubt its someone who died even within the last decade.” It was a hunch but one Lana felt pretty good about. 

“You’re probably right. Let’s see, building was built as a warehouse in 1924... became apartments a few years ago...” Sam shrugged, “Nothing interesting.”

“What? No violent deaths? Gangster headquarters? Nothing?” Lana pressed. How could that be possible?

“Not so far, no,” Sam sighed, disappointed, “Doesn’t even seem like much has happened here until the first girl went missing.” 

"Huh,” Lana leaned back in her chair, “Then what gives?” She pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth in thought. 

“Beats me,” Sam replied, “Maybe Dean and Lily are having more luck.”

**Dean and Lily  
** Dean held the EMF detector in front of them as they wandered the hallways slowly in search of the unknown. Nothing was really spiking and even Lily was confused, “This building doesn’t feel so creepy,” she said with a shrug. “I mean, look...” Lily pointed to a welcome mat down the hall outside of an apartment door that depicted an overly floral pattern.

“Yeesh,” Dean shook his head, “No thank-you.”

“Oh, come on,” Lily nudged his arm, “I know Lana wants that white picket fence one day... but I think you could negotiate picking the welcome mat.” 

“How do you know that?” Dean stopped mid-walk, looking down to the woman with him. 

“Oh, come on, Dean. She told me. And even if she didn’t...” Lily raised her brows like  _ ‘hello, empath here.’ _

“Right, I’m the idiot. Let’s keep moving,” he said with the nod of his head as he pressed on down the hallway. 

“Dean wait,” Lily pulled on the back of his jacket, causing him to stop again.

“What?” He asked, frustrated that they kept stopping and that his EMF wasn’t giving him anything. This case was already giving him a headache. 

“Isn’t there anything you want to say?” She asked, looking up with an expectant face. He pursed his lips like ‘do I?’ But she rolled her eyes, “Dean! I can feel it! You’re holding back. So spill,” she crossed her arms over her chest. 

Dean sighed heavily and dropped the EMF to his side, “Yeah, alright! Okay!” He exclaimed, unable to sidestep being called out, “Look...I... I’m glad Sam took Lana because I want...” he paused to take a breath. He was never the best at sharing his feeling, “I wanted to prove to you I could protect you. That we could hunt together.” 

Lily bit her lip. However, when she was quiet for a long moment without a response, his defense wall shot back up, “Yeah, I knew I shouldn’t have said anything...” He started off down the hall again with purpose.

“No... Dean!” Lily said with a sigh, wavering a few steps behind. Dean waited for her follow up but she went quiet so he turned around. 

Lily was staring at a floor vent with wide eyes and he backtracked the few steps to stand by her side, “Hey—- Munchkin...what is it?” 

“Do you see that?” Lily asked. She knelt by the vent and with her index finger poked at a black goo that began oozing from the vent.

“Jesus,” Dean muttered, he put the EMF detector next to the vent and it spiked like crazy. 

“And uh... I think I saw someone’s hand,” Lily told him, “I’m not sure but...I definitely saw something and — it was watching us...” she shuddered, “But it’s weird... I didn’t feel it coming.”

Dean looked at her, “Alright, don’t touch it! Don’t touch it!” He brushed her hand away from the oozing goo, making her stand with him. He wasn’t going to fuck up his mission so soon by letting her get hurt by some vent-peeping spirit, “Alright so... I guess that’s a confirmation, isn’t it? Something serious is up here?” He looked down to Lily for confirmation. 

Lily nodded, “Yeah... something....” she shivered again, “Not good, Dean. Really really not good.” 

“Let’s get back to Lanni and Sammy. If this spirit’s spiking like that — they should know. Worried about Lanni in that apartment.”

“She’s not blonde though, and Sam’s with her,” Lily offered as comfort as they headed back to the apartment.

“But she’s way hotter than those girls, I think that trumps the blonde thing.”

“I didn’t realize spirits changed MOs based on how hot the girl is. But I’d be careful...talking about my girlfriend like that,” Lily smirked.

Dean was about to say something about what she’d just said, but instead he paused and looked at her. “Do you smell that?”

Lily took a deep breath and then nodded slowly. “Yeah...what is that?”

“I think it’s...no, I can’t put my finger on it,” he said, and that was going to bother him, but then he pointed at the vent again. “Great...do you see that, Munchkin?”

Squatting, Lily made a face. “Looks like a clump of bloody blonde hair…”

So this angry spirit was into taking souvenirs, huh? Maybe Lily really  _ had _ seen someone’s hand, and now that meant that they were on a time crunch. More than ever, they needed to know what Sam and Lana had found.

**Apartment  
** Lana and Sam had been scouring all of the sources they could think of, bouncing ideas off of each other. They were in the middle of talking back and forth about things when Dean and Lily returned, and Lily couldn’t help but laugh when she saw Dean wiggling his eyebrows. Sometimes he really was turned on by Lana showing her true nerd, because she didn’t show it enough.

“I see you’re both busy in here,” Dean said, plopping down so close to Lana that their legs touched. “We found some stuff, Munchkin and I, but did you guys find anything?”

Sam sighed and shook his head. “Sadly, no. I think that Lana is onto something though. Honestly? So good to have you back.”

“Thank you,” Lana winked at him. “I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I’m still working on it...what did you two find out while you were out? I see Dean’s not dead…”

“Ha, ha,” Lily said, plopping down on Sam’s lap. “We found blonde hair and ectoplasm and a lot of EMF readings.”

Lana frowned at the hair bit. “Great...then that girl that went missing could be being tortured somewhere…?”

“In the vents,” Dean agreed with a nod. “Sadly, yes.”

“Well, then I guess we go with Sam’s blueprint idea,” Lana said, shaking her head. “And we look into my idea too. Give us just another few moments okay? Hang on…”

Lily and Dean didn’t mind just watching Lana and Sam work, even if both of them wished that they could add a little more to this particular part. They didn’t know a lot about buildings or blueprints, but they still loved that Lana and Sam were in the zone. Rolling the blueprint out on the table, Sam started to try to map out where the vents were in the building, and then Lana made a sound.

“I need coffee,” Lana pouted, Dean laughing and squeezing her thigh. “Run down the street and get it from that cute little coffee stand?”

Dean rolled his eyes playfully, but nodded and kissed her pouting lips. “Coming right up.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Lana chanted, making a little groan that got her another kiss, which made her smile and then go back to her research.

“You are really into this,” Lily smiled, sitting down next to Lana to look at her research on the laptop. “Wait...is that a jail? I thought you guys didn’t have anything.”

Lana laughed at that. “I mean yeah, but this jail was just next door. I had a hunch it was more than just this building just because of the nothing this land was before this apartment building was built.”

Lily was glad that Lana was back because she just threw herself into these things, and because it was nice for the dynamic to feel like it was there and they were a unit. When she opened up her mouth to say something else, however, Dean came back in. It was too soon for her to be back, and he had zero coffee in his hands, but he looked a little panicked and so all of them were alert.

“Teresa Ellis, Apartment 2F. Boyfriend reported her missing around dawn and the cops are around,” Dean explained, shaking his head. “I peeked into the apartment on my way back, and there were cracks in the walls and the ceiling and some more ectoplasm.”

Lana groaned and then shook her head. “Okay, so we have people to save.”

“And it seems like this thing is in the walls,” Lily pointed out. “So the blueprints are a good idea.”

“Yeah, but these grates around here are so damn small--no one fits in there,” Dean said, but then he looked right at Lily. “Except Munchkin.”

Lana and Sam also looked at Lily, but it was clear that Sam did  _ not _ like where this was going. If Lily was the only one that could fit in the walls, then that meant once again sending her in as bait, and Sam would  _ never _ willingly send her in as bait. Especially not with a spirit that was so angry that it was leaving  _ ectoplasm _ everywhere that it struck.

“Lily isn’t going in there unless she agrees to it,” Lana said, turning her laptop to them. “I found it. Next door to this building was a prison. It was called Moyamensing prison. Built in 1835, torn down in 1963. And get this. They used to execute people by hanging them in the empty field next door, which would be here.”

Sam beamed at her. “Which means a lot of incredibly hostile spirits to choose from. What’s that list.”

“It’s a list of names of the people that were executed on this land, and look whose name I found,” Lana told them, highlighting ‘Herman Webster Mudgett’.

Dean made a face. “Who the Hell is that?”

“Wasn’t that H. H. Holmes' real name?” Sam asked Lana.

“Bingo! God, I missed you,” Lana told him, her and Sam gave an excited fist bump.

“Wasn’t that a serial killer?” Lily asked them.

Dean nodded at her. “One of America’s first. Before anyone really knew what a serial killer was.”

“He confessed to twenty seven murders, but some put the death toll at over a hundred,” Sam added on.

“See? Lily and I know things too,” Dean told them, pouting a little bit.

Lily and Sam really did love that their significant others were so into all this stuff, but they knew things too. Dean was the one that was pouting, however, because Lana was back and all of her bonding was with Sam, but he also knew that he was in this to prove to Lily that she was his family--to prove to her that he could protect her. Plus, now he could come out with another punch in the right direction.

“Chloroform!” Dean exclaimed, snapping his fingers. “That’s what I smelled in the hallway. He used to chloroform his victims, and when the cops went to his place, they found human remains, bone fragments--”

“--and long locks of bloody blonde hair,” Lily agreed and nodded at him. “Okay, so this is the angry spirit of an American serial killer who likes to torture and play with his petite blonde victims...and all we have is petite me for bait, but wasn’t he encased in cement?”

Sam nodded at Lily, beaming like a proud professor. “Yeah, so we don’t have anything to salt and burn.”

“Here’s the thing, though...we  _ have _ to go in the walls. You know his apartment building in Chicago? He called it ‘Murder Castle’. He literally had acid vats, quick line pits and trap doors--and secret chambers inside the walls. He’d lock them up, keep them alive for days, and then suffocate or starve them. Meaning these victims?” Lana suggested, shaking her head.

“In the walls,” Lily answered, heaving a heavy sigh. “Then we don’t have a choice.”

Sam was shaking his head. “But we can’t salt and burn the bones. I’m not sending you into the walls to get kidnapped and murdered by a serial killer ghost, Lily.”

“I don’t like the idea either,” Lana said shaking her head. “However, Lily...you’re the only one that’ll fit in the vents easily. It has to be  _ your _ choice.”

“We have to save that girl,” Lily pointed out, taking a breath. “How are we going to kill him? Exorcise him or whatever? I have no idea what to do if we can’t salt and burn.”

Dean shook his head. “We will figure something out. We have to, because I don’t want you going in there until we can figure out how to keep you safe.”

Lily felt a swell of love for Dean. It seemed he truly learned his lesson with Gordon and that made her feel so very protected by her protector. However, she had to be the bearer of bad news, “I don’t know if we have that kind of time. He snatched Theresa within the last 12 hours but that means she could still be alive. So she’s in these walls somewhere, scared and her clock is ticking... I’m not blonde, I have a good chance that he won’t even care about me. And then when we can get Theresa out we’ll just... I don’t know... we’ll do something to stop him from hurting anyone else.”

Lily climbed out of Sam’s lap and took a deep breath, “So I’m going to need a flashlight,” she pulled a hair band from around her wrist and piled her hair on top of her head. 

Lana gave her a smile. Finally, the boys seemed to be understanding that Lily was her own whole person and valid hunter in their midst. Sure, it’s because none of them could go due to the nature of the mission but that was beside the point. 

“Is your phone charged? We can keep you on the phone the entire time,” Lana said, removing her own phone from her pocket to check it, “Tell us what you see and if it gets too hairy just come back and we’ll find another plan.”

“Yeah,” Sam said. He bit his tongue quite hard to stop him from derailing the whole plan but with her on the phone he felt a little better — they would be connected to her the entire time. 

Lily pulled out her phone as Dean handed her a flashlight, “Full charge.” She confirmed. 

Sam placed his hands on Lily’s shoulder and released a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding in, “Are you 100% sure about this?” 

Lily nodded, “I think we can save that girl, Sam. I have to go.” 

Sam nodded and pulled her into him, having to force himself to let her go. 

“I’ll spot you,” Dean said as the group found the proper entrance vent for Lily. She popped her head in first and shined her flashlight down the narrow passage, “Clear,” she said. With help from Dean she shimmied into the vent and after a moment she was out of sight.

“Alright, anything?” Lana asked, holding her on speaker. 

“No,” Lily said with a soft groan as she half-crawled, pulling herself through the narrow vent until it gave way to a slightly bigger passage between walls, “But, I can stand now, so that’s good,” she said, brushing herself off. 

“Alright, keep aware for smells too. I don’t know if spirit chloroform is effective but I’m not here to find out,” Dean said into the phone. 

“No. No smells other than some serious must,” Lily replied, “And no spiders so far — so this is going great,” she tried to comfort the worried three on the other end of the line, “Okay, so I think this shaft is sending me down a level. I’m going to go.”

There was a long moment of crackled noise and soft grunts from the phone but to their relief, Lily’s voice returned, “Okay. So I don’t think — OH...”

“What is it!?” Sam asked, his pacing ceasing for a moment. 

“Uh, ectoplasm. In the bricks. A lot of it,” Lily said, “Don’t worry, Dean I’m not touching it!” She added, “Just trying not to get it in my hair,” she mumbled, moving along. However, her voice dropped a moment later, “Woah, like...a lot and I think... I’m no expert but that smell, it’s back and —“ 

A loud scream sounded through Lana’s phone speaker. Lana nearly dropped her phone as the reality of the situation set in. 

“No!” Sam exclaimed but Dean had snatched a hammer from the table and was bounded down the stairs to the lower level, “Lily?! LILY?!” He called, feeling against the wall. Once he found a week spot he began to throw the hammer wildly into the drywall until it was large enough he could remove chunks with his hands to force half of his body inside for a look, “LILY?!” He called. The bricks were coated in a dried ectoplasm. 

Sam was behind him a moment later. Dean leaned in and when he retreated from the wall, covered in dust he held up Lily’s phone. 

Sam ran his hands through his hair and paced again, “I knew I shouldn’t have let this happen. Dean what are we going to do!?” 

Dean was at a loss, Lana appeared and he looked to his woman, helpless and broken. 

**In the Sewer**   
The next time Lily opened her eyes, she had to adjust it the blackness. She was laying down on cold metal and when she tried to roll over to stand up, she realized the space was no bigger than the inside of a coffin. 

Trying not to panic, Lily stifled a cry and began beating against the walls around her, looking for a weak spot. There was a small slot she could peek through but all she could see was a dark, dank room with nothing much. Then, she heard it. 

“Is someone there?” 

Lily let out a breath of relief, “Yes! Uhm, yes. Are you Theresa?” 

“Yes!” The girl let out a strangled sob.

“I’m so glad you’re alive,” Lily said, closing her eyes, trying to steady herself and remember why she was down here, “Are you okay?”

“What do you think?” Theresa asked but Lily couldn’t fault her; it was a dumb question.

“Right, okay. Look. It’s going to be okay. We have people coming for us, they’re the best. Just hold on a little longer, okay?” 

“Oh my god...oh my god he’s coming!” Theresa went quiet, crying and Lily froze.

**Sewer Prison  
** While Lily was dealing with Theresa and Holmes, Sam had a metal detector while Dean grabbed a shovel, Lana following them as they tried to figure out where around here, there was a good grate. They'd been looking over the blueprints ever since Lily had screamed and dropped contact, and soon, it beeped and Lana nodded frantically.

"Right there," she said when the metal detector whined.

Dean dropped his bag and furiously started to dig. After some shovel work, the three of them dug with their hands to uncover a metal trap door, which they probably could have pulled open, but Lana used her new abilities to force it open, which was much quicker. Sam and Dean were surprised to say the least, but Sam took a shotgun and Lana took the flashlight, all of them heading down into the sewer.

Lily was kicking at the wall furiously of her wooden cell,, trying to get out. She wanted to help Theresa, and she wanted to get out, but at least this had been of her own doing. For once, she had gotten to be the one that had been an active part of the plan, and gotten to choose  _ for herself _ what role she was going to play.

She might not have been blonde, but Holmes seemed to be taking a liking to her anyway because she was still petite, and hey, a ghost had to have victims. Usually they didn't stray much from an M.O., but they also needed people. A scraggly-bearded mouth appeared at the opening again to talk to Lily, who was still trying to calculate a way out.

"You're so pretty. So beautiful," he told her and reached in to try and touch her, Lily doing her best to keep his hands away from her.

The sewers were definitely better suited for smaller people, Lana and the boys having to crawl on hands and knees through the narrow tunnels. It was gross but it was necessary, and even though Lana kept making comments about it to try and lighten the mood, it wasn't enough to get their minds off of helping Lily. Soon, they came to a better place to move and they heard a sound, Dean rushing forward quicker than Sam in his desperate need to protect Lily.

"Hey!" Dean cried before he shot the rock salt and sent Holmes backwards and out of sight.

Lana knew it wasn't best to use her powers around people, but she did it anyway, forcing Theresa's  _ and _ Lily’s cages open. The other cages had some body parts and Lana and Sam both averted their eyes, Dean moving for Theresa because Sam got to Lily first this time to look her over.

"We're gonna get you out of here, all right?" Dean told Theresa, nodding when she did.

Lana nodded and then took a deep breath. "We get her out of here but we have to trap him. We can't let this happen anymore."

"I can keep being bait," Lily offered, even though she was not a fan of this hunt. "We just need to hurry."

**Sewer - Later  
** Lily sat alone, silently in the middle of the chamber they were in. She had to make it seem like she was lost and afraid and by herself, and she wrapped her arms around her knees to lure him out. When Holmes appeared, Dean, Sam and Lana shot at bags on the walls and they unfurled to spill salt around Holmes in a perfect circle.

Sam reached for Lily and pulled her safely against him, Lana and Dean smirking when Holmes started to scream. He was trapped for now, because there was no way he was going to get over that salt. However, this was still the chance that someone would come into this sewer and screw it up, so the next phase of the plan had to be enacted, and Lana looked right at Holmes and nodded, closing the grate and sealing the room off.

Climbing out of the sewers and up onto the street, Lily was glad that once again, they had figured out a case and solved it. Theresa was going to be alright even though she was going to be scarred for life, and Dean left the group only to grab a cement truck so they could fill the sewer and hopefully that would keep the salt from washing away and keep him trapped for much longer--hopefully forever.

"Does my baby look hot driving a stolen cement truck or what?" Lana asked, squeezing Lily’s hand. "You okay?"

Lily laughed a little. "You guys are the worst cover partners ever."

"Oh please--no one holds a candle to my girlfriend," Lana told her, leaning over to kiss her head. "Promise."

"I am right here," Sam explained as he shook his head with a laugh.

"Doesn't mean that I don't love our girlfriend," Lana responded in a sing-song voice.

It was nice to have a moment that was gentle and funny, especially given that they had just dealt with a serial killer ghost in what felt like record time. Either they were getting better at this, or they were taking cases that were way too easy. Perhaps it was a little bit of both.

"We hung out with a serial killer today, guys," Lana reminded them as they watched Dean in the cement truck. "Lily almost got murdered by H.H. Holmes himself."

Lily shook her head. "Not an experience that I would like to repeat, but also bravo on those moves."

"If I don't practice, then what was the point of learning parlor tricks?" Lana asked with a little laugh. "Really though...are you okay?"

"I mean, I came out with maybe just a couple bruises, so it's a win." Lily explained. "I just wish we could have saved more than just Theresa. All those body parts down there? And he was a real creep. You get felt up by a ghost and you never shake it."

Sam looked like a vein was going to pop out of his head when she said that. Yeah, he knew a bit about the guy when he was living, but that made him a whole other kind of mad. This was a ghost, it wasn't some guy that was flesh and blood that he could beat up. Also when did these violent tendencies get to be so much more violent?

"We are awesome," Dean said with a smile, getting out of the cement truck. "I gotta return this before I get murdered by a big guy with a 'momma's boy' tattoo, but then we should get a drink."

**Pennsylvania Bar - Night  
** Once they'd packed up a bit and told the landlord to keep the money, they headed back out in the Impala, heading to a bar to get a drink or two before they figured out what to do next. Sam and Lana wanted to actually settle for a few days and enjoy themselves, and Dean wanted to find another hunt so he could keep proving himself to them over and over. Maybe he was acting a bit psycho about it, but he was still feeling like he had been the worst, and he needed Lily to know how much he loved and valued her.

"At some point tonight, he and I have a date in the alley out back, but until then," Lana announced, Lily laughing as Dean wiggled his eyebrows and Sam groaned. "Sorry, Sammy. I saw it as we parked and I have to try it. Drinks and a booth first?"

Dean nodded, and though he was trying to make things up to Lily, he did take the moment as they got the booth, to go up with Lana to the bar. His arm was around her, but his hand was on the bar on the other side of her like he was trapping her there, and Sam laughed when he saw. Dean was also ordering for her, but Lana seemed happy rather than annoyed that he was staking a very public claim.

"I did not miss the talk of their sex lives, but I kind of missed Dean being completely whipped," Sam told Lily with a nod. "He was worried shitless about you, you know…”

Lily nodded, “I know,” she gave Sam a smile, “I think he learned his lesson. And all it took was me being kidnapped by the ghost of America’s most prolific serial killer.” 

“Not funny,” Sam said, but even he broke a smile as he pulled Lily against him.

“Think we can keep Dean off of a hunt for a few days? Because I’m pretty sure I’m going to need like two straight days in the shower to get the feeling of HH Holmes off of me,” she shuddered. 

“I think Lana just might be able to do the trick. That and we field any calls from Bobby and Florence, I think we have a real shot at a few days off.” 

“Good,” Lily smiled, “I mean, we can probably just hide his phone. He never knows where it is anyway.” 

“Thank God Lana’s back. She can make sure it's charged too,” he chuckled.

“Poor man just hates technology so much. Remember that time you suggested he get a laptop?” Lily laughed and it was too infectious for Sam not to laugh too, “Yeah. I’m pretty sure he would have taken better to me asking him to ingest rat poison.” 

“We are so lucky he found Lana. I mean, thank god for us too,” Lily added. 

“Yeah. Except when she’s trying to steal you from me. Way not cool,” he squeezed her teasingly. 

“Hey! There’s enough of me to go around,” she smirked.

“Debatable,” he teased which made her hit his chest, “Not you too! I get enough of the short jokes from your brother, thank-you very much.” 

“I know, I know,” he leaned in to steal a kiss from her lips, “Forgive me? Hm?” He pressed another kiss to her lips, catching her bottom lip between his teeth. 

“Mm, mmhm,” Lily breathed, unable to resist.

“Woah, alright. Save some for later you crazy kids,” Dean and Lana returned to the table with a round of drinks. 

“Hey, you’re the one basically advertising you want to go have a quickie in the alleyway,” Sam defended, reaching for his beer. 

“Yeah, but that’s different,” Dean winked as he and Lana slid back into the booth. 

“How?” Sam asked incredulously. 

“Just is,” Dean shrugged, pulling his older brother  _ ‘I’m always right’ _ card. 

“You know, I should take offense to you trying to take my girlfriend out to some back alley...” Lily said over the lip of her cocktail. 

“Don’t worry,” Lana reached over the table to take one of Lily’s hands, “I’m okay with it,” she winked and Lily couldn’t help but laugh at the running joke the landlord inadvertently started. 

“Okay, just let me know if I gotta beat him up,” Lily said when their hands broke apart so Lana took a drink of her own beverage and really kicked the night off right. 

“Oh puh-lease,” Dean puffed with a laugh, “I’d like to see you try.”

“I don’t know Dean,” Sam jumped in, “I won’t hold her back this time...I’d be worried.”

“Thank-you,” Lily looked up to Sam and pursed her lips for a kiss. Sam obliged. 

“Yuck,” Dean muttered into his beer, “Glad we’re not that cutesy,” Dean slapped Lana’s knee gently.

“Excuse me? We’re plenty cute,” Lana returned as if she was incredibly insulted.

“No way. We’re more — smokin’ hot, than high school sweethearts-cute,” Dean returned. Lana thought about it for a moment.

She was a sucker for romance and she knew that Dean had his moments of “terms of endearment” but for the sake of tonight she nodded with a soft shrug. “I’m okay with that. We set standards.” 

“Damn right we do,” Dean grinned, throwing Lily a wink, “Maybe when you grow up, you and Sammy can try to be as hot as us.” 

“Hey!” Sam and Lily said in unison making Dean laugh more. 

“Remember that time that bar almost called the cops on Sammy cause they thought he’d brought a minor?” Dean could barely contain himself when he recalled the story. 

“What?!” Lana exclaimed, her jaw dropping. “No way! Dean...” she looked at Dean for the truth but he held up his hand.

“Swear to God...!" Dean laughed with a nod. "Took me buttering up the security guard with my hustling cash to get them to drop it.” 

Sam nodded, “It’s true,” he told Lana. He glanced down at Lily who had narrowed her eyes at Dean but they quickly turned on him, “Sorry, but I don’t think that...!” He said, quickly kissing her pout. 

“Wow,” Lana shook her head, “Lil, I’m so sorry,” she smiled.

Lily shrugged, “It’s okay. There was one time a motel owner thought Sam and Dean were together because he didn’t even notice me and we ended up with one queen bed despite how hard they tried to convince him.”

“That sounds about right,” Lana laughed, shaking her head. “Honestly, you three probably had way more fun than I ever had hunting. I mean...Lance and I used to do things together. Before he and Dean apparently fought that one hunt before I met you two, man, it was funny. Having two attractive men clearly having a testosterone battle over you? It’s nice.”

“Do you still wanna have a quickie outside?” Dean asked her, giving her a look. “Because you basically just called Lance hot. More than that, on the same level as  _ me _ .”

Lana tilted her head to the side. “Baby, you are the hottest man I know, but I’m not going to lie to you to stroke your ego. I have only had hot boyfriends. I, like the ghosts we hunt, _also_ have a type.”

“I’m Team Dean, but Lance  _ was _ pretty,” Lily shrugged, smiling when Sam just laughed.

Unlike Dean, Sam didn’t feel like he was competing with the man on any level, and just because Dean’s nostrils were flaring, Sam even added that Lance really was an attractive dude, and then Dean basically had steam coming out of his ears. Why he thought he had to compete with the man, Lana didn’t actually know, but it meant she could have one tiny, sappy moment, while still calling Dean out.

“Look, you only hit on hot people, and it drives me  _ nuts _ ,” Lana told him, shrugging as she shook her head, “but you picked me, and I picked you, and that is all that matters. I would pick you over and over and--”

She was interrupted by a young man coming over to the table, Dean making a new face even though her words had softened him. Lana was already getting ready to politely shoot him down, but his eyes rested on  _ Lily _ , and he didn’t really give anyone else any thought. It was crazy, because the boys were here and they were intimidating, but as he explained why he had come over, it made sense--for some reason he’d thought she was younger, and that Lana, Sam and Dean were her  _ family _ .

While true, he thought they were  _ related _ .

“Munchkin can’t come out and play tonight,” Dean chuckled, laughing a little more when Lily shot a glare at him. “She has a curfew.”

Lana smacked Dean in the arm and then looked him in the eye. “Stop it…”

“We’re actually heading out of town right after this stop, we just needed to stretch our legs,” Lily told him, nodding when he looked disappointed. “I’m so sorry.”

“No problem, just wanted to,” he nodded slowly, “just try.”

Then he seemed to scurry off, and Dean had his fist up to his mouth, trying to stop laughing that some 21 year old had just come over to hit on Lily. Sam was annoyed, but he was also just shaking his head as Lily kicked Dean in the leg from under the table at the booth.

“Poor guy couldn’t even read the room,” Sam said, shaking his head more.

“You sound  _ bitter _ ,” Lana pointed out, chewing on her lip as she smiled too. “Hey, he was cute.”

Lily blushed and shook her head. “This is what I’m talking about! Sometimes being tiny is  _ not _ beneficial!”

“Are you kidding? If I was single I’d at least make out with him. He tried,” Lana replied, letting out a noise when Dean pinched her arm. “Ow! I’m sorry...do  _ you _ wanna have a quickie outside?”

“Not anymore,” Dean stuck his tongue out at her.

He might be the oldest of them, but he was always the most childish, and Sam and Lily couldn’t help but shake their heads as Lana just egged him on. She had her moments of maturity and seriousness--especially with Sam, and with mothering Lily--but she and Dean definitely played off of each other often. They both stopped when a waitress came over and dropped a drink off for Lily, this time from an older gentleman who was probably Dean’s age.

“You are  _ popular _ tonight,” Lana beamed, nodding in happiness. “Seriously, I am so proud.”

Sam gave her a look. “You didn’t do anything.”

“No, I didn’t. It is all Lily’s sex appeal,” Lana added with a shrug.

“Oh, can we not?” Dean asked, never wanting to sexualize the woman he thought of as a sister. “Munchkin doesn’t need you to corrupt her.”

Sam nodded in agreement. “Thank you, Dean.”

“Wow, they’re agreeing that I have no sex appeal,” Lily teased them, knowing that wasn’t what they meant, but still, they were being childish about this.

“You guys need to be nicer to my girlfriend, or she’ll be sleeping with me next time we get a bed,” Lana warned Sam mostly, Lily tossing a wink in her direction. “Don’t worry, Lily: I think you’re sexy.”

Clearing his throat, Sam pointed at Lana. “I’m going to need you to not.”

“Intimidated by my girl’s sex appeal?” Dean asked Sam, loving that he could tease him about this too. “Because you should be.”

“And you need to stop picturing us together,” Lana and Lily told Dean at once.

“Then you need to stop mentioning it! I’m not perfect!” Dean defended himself. 

Lily took a sip of her free drink, “Yum!” she exclaimed. She turned in her seat to try and locate who the bartender said sent it over. She caught eyes with him and she gave him a smile and raised her drink in thanks. He threw her a wink which created a buzz over the whole table.

“I don’t think Munchkin’s sharing a bed with Sammy or you tonight,” he threw to Lana with a smirk. 

“Alright, screw this,” Sam muttered. He suddenly tugged Lily into him and landed a firm, impassioned kiss on her lips that momentarily stunned her. However, within a moment she was furiously returning the kiss with fervor, her hands tangling in his air. 

Dean let out a whistle between his lips. He glanced at Lana, whose jaw had dropped but she smiled widely, looking back to Dean, “Alright, jealous Sam doesn’t mess around,” she said with a laugh. It didn’t deter the couple who didn’t even seem to hear Lana. 

“Well, I think this makes a perfect segway…” Dean motioned with his head towards the back door, his eyebrows raising suggestively. Lana couldn’t argue. She smirked and nodded, causing him to grab her hand and lead her away, “We’ll be back!” he threw back to an audience that was not paying attention. 

**The Back Alley  
** The Impala was parked not too far down the way and Lana glanced around. The night was pretty dead in this area of Pennsylvania and the alley was just cozy enough to excite her. Suddenly, her back pressed against a cold brick wall and Dean’s hands were on her, firmly groping whatever he could find. His lips met hers and they let all thought of decorum fly out the window. 

“You look smokin’ in these jeans but…” Dean gave a breathy chuckle against her lips as he struggled to pry the tight jean from her even tighter body. 

Lana laughed, one arm hooked around his neck, the other working at his jeans which, in comparison, were much easier, “Gotta make you work for it, babe. Otherwise what’s the fun?” She replied as his jeans came open and hung loosely at the bones of his pelvis. 

“You just want to torture me whenever you can,” he accused playfully as he was finally able to start pushing her jeans down her hips to grant him the access he desired. 

“Guilty,” she replied, but his lips stopped her from speaking further. It wasn’t hard after that to commit a misdemeanor of public indecency in the alley behind the bar. However, it was dark and relatively secluded so they were able to enjoy each other without fear someone was going to call the cops — besides, that’s what added the thrill to their alleyway tryst. 

**Back Inside the Bar  
** Sam and Lily had taken their moment and were each surprised when they came up for air that they were alone at the table. They glanced at each other to confirm neither of them had heard the pair walk away. 

“So, we should stay out of the alley for now,” Lily laughed, trying to smooth down her hair and taking a long sip of her drink to hydrate. 

Sam cleared his throat and nodded, “I’m not about to risk it,” he said. There’d been one too many close calls in his life with Dean and women…and now that he had Lana 24/7 the risk had doubled exponentially. Hearing things from an adjoined motel room was more than enough for him to deal with.

The couple barely found themselves back in their drinks when the man who’d sent Lily the drink slid into the empty booth seat across from them. Lily and Sam eyed him in confusion but he spared them and spoke first, “You know, I don’t mind you’re together,” he said. It was clear he had been drinking for a while. He ran his hand through his hair and his eyes glinted with mischief, “I mean, man if you want to watch or join, that’s cool.” 

Lily nearly spit out her drink and Sam was too stunned for a moment to reply. When he gathered himself, the large man leaned forward but Lily put her hand on his arm and spoke, “No— no thanks. We’re … happy in just a couple setting and besides, we’re leaving town tonight.” 

The man looked her over and then to Sam, “Mm, alright. Could be fun… I’ll be here for a while if you change your mind. Enjoy the drink,” he winked before exiting their booth and meandering to the other side of the bar again.

Lily looked at Sam who was utterly floored. She giggled at his face and she gently brushed his hair behind his ear, “Don’t look so bewildered, you’re super hot. Even dudes want to steal you from me.” 

“Not funny,” he looked at her but he was smiling. 

“Hey, he said it. Not me.” Lily took a drink but couldn’t resist, “So…should I be worried?” 

Sam laughed and shook his head, “Don’t start. If Dean even catches a whiff of this we’ll never live it down.”

Lily smiled and nodded, he was right. But Sam continued, “Besides. I am much more in danger of losing you to Lana than you losing me to some guy in a skeezy bar,” he said, drinking his beer again. 

“Yeah, you’re right,” she smirked, “Lana is way hotter than that dude.” 

Sam looked at her, “You know you’re sharing a bed with me tonight, right? You don’t get a choice in the matter.” 

“What?!” Lily laughed, “I do too!”

“Nope, sorry. You lost that privilege. Dean will be on my side so it’s pretty much a done deal, babe.” 

“Just wait until my girlfriend hears about this,” Lily said, taking another sip of her drink like she was indignant about his ‘decision’. 

**The Back Alley  
** Lana and Dean had managed a quickie (that wasn’t unreasonably quick) and Lana had that little grin she always got when she was through with Dean. 

“I have to say, this was one of my better ideas,” Dean said, running his hands over his hair and letting Lana find some space between him and the wall. 

“Because it was my idea,” Lana returned, straightening her jacket, “But I’d say that was one of our better performances,” she smirked.

“I’ll drink to that,” he pulled her into him again for one more stolen kiss.

When they broke apart she spoke, “Alright, let’s get back to those two before they come looking for us.” 

“They know where we are — and trust me, Sam won’t come looking. I think he’s scared of your boobs.”

“Hey!” Lana exclaimed, “No way is he afraid of my boobs! He doesn’t want to see any part of his brother that is exclusively mine.”

That made Dean chuckle, and he stole one more kiss before Lana was dragging him back inside to the booth, both of them with smiles on their faces as they sat back down. Lily almost looked like she was pouting until Dean slipped his arm around Lana to keep her close, Lana looking over Sam and Lily to try to discern what she had missed as she let herself rest snugly tucked into Dean’s side. An alley tryst did not leave her any post snuggles, and this was as close as they were going to get.

“What’s the face?” Lana asked Lily as she raised her eyebrows.

Lily shook her head. “I don’t have a face.”

“You better be being nice to my girl,” Lana told Sam, but she surprisingly let it go for now. “We need a break.”

“This  _ is _ a break,” Dean pointed out before sipping his beer.

“No, this is a nice evening out, this is not a break. We just basically had two hunts in a row and that’s right after I came back from having to train and hone my skills every day. If nothing else  _ I _ need a break,” Lana explained.

Lily beamed at her. “Seconded.”

“Thirded,” Sam held his hand up with a laugh and then pointed at Dean. “Out voted.”

“You guys suck,” Dean mumbled into his beer.

These three were always trying to get Dean to slow his roll when it came to traveling from place to place, and while he didn’t mind it as much as he made a fuss about it, he felt he had an image to maintain. If they just took breaks all the time, then wouldn’t they become complacent? He’d get used to having an actual home and then what if he lost it? Sure, it was his fears that made him make the choices he made about continually moving, but he wondered how much longer he could even keep it up.

Eventually, his family was going to want to maintain the sense of roots, and he just didn’t know how to put them down yet. At the same time, he had fun when they got to do normal things like this: two couples hanging out in a bar, letting themselves actually  _ have fun in the first place _ . They needed to find their new dynamic, and the only way to do that was to go with the majority vote.

“You’ll get over it,” Lana laughed as she rested her head on his shoulder. “We probably should come up with an actual plan, however, because we can’t just keep going to Bobby’s and expecting him to feed us. While he’ll say he enjoys it, I’m sure he also enjoys having his house to himself and not having Dean eat him out of house and home.”

“Hey!” Dean exclaimed, shaking his head. “Here I am doing all these things for you right now…”

Sam spoke up to stop him from continuing. “She’s right, though. At some point, we’re going to have to figure out the best way to sometimes stop and smell the roses, okay?”

“I agree,” Lily shrugged her shoulders. “I mean I love seeing Bobby all the time, but we can’t constantly uproot all of his plans. He has a life too.”

Dean was the only one of the four that had consistently moved everywhere since his childhood, so maybe sometimes he felt a little restless when he stayed in one place too long, but the others had stability. Hell, Sam and Lily had a whole future planned before he’d gone to them that night, and Lana had gotten to stay in the house and grow up even after John took the boys away. Everyone had some ability to quiet the voices that screamed ‘hunt’ all the time, and perhaps it would do Dean some good to figure out how to quiet his own.

“What about an actual, honest to God vacation? Just for like a week or something?” Lily offered, not sure Dean would go for it, but at least it was out there.

Lana smiled at her. “I mean...I’m not opposed. I haven’t been on a vacation in...well maybe ever. I don’t think we ever traveled somewhere just to be there, but Mom used to let Annie and I stay in places with monuments or tourist spots  _ after _ a hunt if we were close.”

“A week is a long time though,” Dean pointed out to them. “What are we supposed to do?”

“Enjoy ourselves?” Sam asked his brother with a laugh. “Come on, you know what  _ that’s _ like at least. Imagine some kind of resort, where we can charge drinks, and get room service, and I don’t know--rent a boat for a day? Rooms that are far more soundproof than motel rooms? You and Lan can have all the sex you want and I won’t even have to hear it or about it.”

Laughing, Lana nodded. “Sam’s not wrong. He deserves to have a week where he doesn’t know any details, and we can pick one with an elevator…”

Sam was already groaning when Lana lowered her voice and wiggled her eyebrows at Dean, who couldn’t help but smirk at the thought. Ever since coming back, Lana had been on a whole new confidence level, and with that came some very creative ideas about locations to throw caution to the wind, and Dean was thoroughly enjoying himself. He didn’t even have time to be mad at her when he was constantly being reminded of how much she loved and appreciated him.

Lily wouldn’t mind the extra privacy either, because he and Sam needed to have some sort of slowdown right now. They had things to talk about, and things she wanted to do too, and to just let themselves be somewhat normal even for just a little while, felt like the  _ right thing to do _ . Besides, at a resort, they could meet up for meals, and split off for a spa day, or tourist attractions, and the four of them could really strengthen their bond now that they were once again back together.

“Plus we can all cement our partnership,” Lily offered up to Dean. “Just think about how much better we’ll hunt together if we’re that much closer after this. Lana and I will get time together, you and I will get time together...these two will get time together, but make better choices…”

“I don’t know about that,” Lana teased, but she did know why Lily had phrased it like that. “I might find a reason to push him into a lake.”

Sam laughed and rolled his eyes. “We both know you and I will end up on some history tour that would bore these two to death, and you won’t have time to push me into a lake.”

“You don’t know that,” Lana winked, but she and Sam shared a laugh and nodded. “We will make better choices, I promise. Scout’s honor.”

“She was never a girl scout--don’t trust her,” Dean teased, smiling at Lily. “Fine, okay? But no more than a week. The last thing that any of us needs when we still need to find the demon and the Colt, is to get  _ rusty _ . So then I guess the next question is: where are we going?”

Lana shrugged her shoulders. “Lily and I can figure it out. I think we can all agree that life is smoother when Lily and I get what we want.”

“You are so bossy,” Dean chuckled, shaking his head. “I don’t know why I like it.”

“Yes you do,” Lily scoffed, laughing too. “You love following orders. I admit, when we first met, I thought you had some sort of weak, school girl, damsel in distress fetish, but low and behold you enjoy being dominated.”

“Does he ever,” Lana responded, laughing when Dean pursed his lips together. “It only works out in my favor because I enjoy  _ giving _ orders. Plus Lily said that you said something about my legs going on for days?”

Dean gave Lily a look. “Do you two literally talk about  _ everything _ ?”

“There is not a piece of our lives that is not texted about,” Lily responded, nodding when Sam made a noise. “Yep, Sam, that goes for our love lives too.”

“I don’t wanna know what you know,” Sam told Lana, shaking his head and drinking his beer.

Lana shrugged with a smirk on her face. “You do a little--don’t lie, Samuel.”

Dean and Sam looked between Lana and Lily, who both looked entirely  _ too _ pleased with themselves as the boys started to sweat. Sure, they knew that Lana and Lily were close, but they didn’t realize just how much the girls actually were talking to each other on their phones. They  _ were _ curious, but they also didn’t want to ask in front of the other, because they didn’t want their brother to know they were freaking out.

“Nope. Nope, I’m fine,” Sam told her.

“I am too,” Dean wanted Lily to know.

Lily laughed at that and nodded playfully. “Sure you are.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Dean raised his hands as if swiping through air to back them up, “If that’s really true,” he looked from Lana to Lily about their habit of telling each other everything, “Then what we did back there,” he threw his thumb over his shoulder with a look to Lana, “You’re going to just tell her?” 

“Yep,” Lana nodded, “Pretty much.”

Dean shuddered, “You know what? Forget I asked,” he took a sip of his beer to hopefully wash away the knowledge of what Lily must know about him. 

“Just don’t share what you know, okay?” Sam looked down to Lily, “This is probably the one time that ignorance is truly bliss.” 

“I’ll cheers to that,” Dean held out his beer bottle and Sam clinked his own to his brother’s in a moment of solidarity. 

“Oh please, it’s good stuff. You’re missing out,” Lana shrugged into her own drink making Lily smile.

“Don’t worry,” Lily told Dean, “Lana is very gracious with the details.”

“Alright, alright! I swear you two keep it up and the vacation is off, I swear!” Dean exclaimed. Inwardly, was he pleased that Lana spoke so fondly of him? Yes. Did he want to think about how Lily knew those things? No. 

“Uh-uh— you’re outvoted!” Lily exclaimed, “No take-backsies!” 

“Then you better be on your best behavior.” Dean said before he threw back the last of his beer.  “Alright, time for another round. I’m far too sober for all of this,” Dean pushed out of the booth and headed to the bar to procure the alcohol. 

“Don’t worry.... he’ll barely remember this tomorrow,” Lana smirked. 

“Sadly, I will,” Sam replied with a soft chuckle. 


End file.
